Singing Up to a Capulet
by atheneblue
Summary: I can help you," she said. "Let me pose as a Death Eater too." Twenty five years bind them together and tear them apart. Snape X Sinistra. Rated M for dark sexuality, drug use, and language.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I do not own rights in any way to the characters developed by JK Rowling for the Harry Potter universe.

The title of this fic is a line from the song "Singing in My Sleep" by Semisonic. Chapter 1 is rated M for language and sexuality.

_******_

_Muggle shite_.

Snape grimly eyed the quintet of self-styled punk rockers gyrating by the lake. Had Dumbledore really acceded to their request to perform? Those five were a disgrace to Hogwarts. The Potions master had never seen so many piercings and Doc Martens in one place at the same time.

He stepped from the copse of trees into the fading sunlight of a hot June evening. Severus noted that most of the student body appeared to be in attendance for the concert.

_They certainly don't appear to be studying for exams_, he thought ruefully, passing a crowd of students dancing in a manner that suggested the frenzy of _Cruciatus_ victims. A skinny second-year whom he recognized as the Tonks girl ran across his path, screaming the lyrics to whatever nonsense the band was playing.

Snape moved closer to the band, where he was able to distinguish Aurora at the microphone. The strawberry blonde of her pixie haircut shone in the sun, perhaps aided by what seemed to be a significant amount of gel or mousse. A metal hoop bisected the smooth curve of one nostril. She wore a red plaid skirt that was a little too short for her gangly legs, with the requisite shit-kicking boots and a t-shirt that read "CBGB & OMFUG", whatever that meant. The shirt was torn in several places and had been mended with an armada of safety pins. Aurora's fair skin gleamed through where the edges of the fabric were not entirely aligned.

He found the entire aesthetic both repellant and strangely appealing, particularly the pinned t-shirt. Severus could see himself shredding the already torn fabric to expose more of that pure flesh. The safety pins would dig into her skin, some popping open to prick her, to draw both gasps and blood from her body. He remembered the sweet fruits that were her tits; perfect handfuls of soft flesh, tipped with pink. And that tartan scrap of cloth which passed for a skirt would pose no problem. He would have it above her sweet arse in a heartbeat.

Snape found himself ducking his head slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of Aurora's underpants under the skirt. What was she wearing? White cotton? Cute and colorful briefs? Black lace? Nothing?

He shifted his hips to make room for the growing erection inside his pants, thankful for the plentiful drape of his robes. _Stop it, you moronic git, _he cursed himself.

The girl's charisma, however, there was no denying. Despite the enthusiastic but inept musicians who surrounded her, despite the brutal crap that she was belting, despite the angry snarl which disfigured her pretty face, Severus could not take his eyes off of her and actually found himself drawn by the melody, such as it was. The microphone was magical, and so merely a prop, but Aurora worked it like a professional, manhandling it and slinging it around, taming it with her manic will. Snape's eyebrow shot upward when she slid her fingers up and down the mike stand in what could only be described as a suggestive manner. He scratched his temple to cover a blush.

Then the drums came crashing to a finale, and the audience erupted into applause, mixed with whoops and whistles. Aurora's face gleamed with excitement as her eyes roved over the crowd. Suddenly, her gaze met Snape's. He stared back coldly.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She turned to her band and said something, then leaned back into the mike. "This one's for an old friend," she announced. Severus thought he caught the barest hint of a wink in his direction.

The guitarist began softly; the tune sounded...folksy. Aurora swayed, eyes closed. After a few measures, she began to growl into the microphone.

_I need someone, a person to talk to_,  
_someone who'd care to love. Could it be you?_

Cheers rose up from across the audience as the students recognized the lyrics. Snape looked around to see the youth of Hogwarts dancing and singing along to this strange monotone that she was chanting, apparently, for him.

A giant grin spread across Aurora's face as the guitar tumbled down a flight of chords.

_You can all just kiss off into the air.  
Behind my back I can see that stare.  
They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind.  
They'll hurt me bad: they do it all the time._

Two of the boys in the band sang back-up, repeating the chorus with her. Severus cocked his head, trying to gauge the emotion swirling inside him. Anger? Fear? Grief? Gratitude?

What was Aurora doing, messing about like this?

Hundreds of voices joined Aurora's as she wailed: "_I hope you know that this will go down on your permanent record!" _Their passions and frustrations welled to the surface, unleashed by this song.

Severus scoffed, rolling his eyes. What did they know of being outcasts? What did they know of whispers and taunts? Of losing yourself in the pain until it almost felt good?

Aurora knew though. Yes, she did.

She was dancing behind the microphone as her band wrestled with an awkward bridge. As she waved her arms, Snape could see the tattoo which had returned with her from holiday break. A black mark on her left forearm.

****

He spotted the tattoo under her sleeve and grabbed her arm, wrenching it painfully. She cursed under her breath, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of crying out.

"What is this?" His words were slow as a glacier, cold as ice. But there was no doubting the fury simmering behind the mask of his face. "What _is_ this?"

"Thought we'd be cute as a matching set."

Snape squeezed her soft flesh. "I will not permit backchat, even from you!" he hissed, cranking her arm until the sleeve fell away. Emblazoned on her fair skin was a small black heart encircled by a snake biting its own tail. Aurora laughed at his astonishment, and Severus thrust her away from him in disgust.

"Reckon your dark lord would spank me for that?" Her wide eyes mocked him. Then she stepped closer to him. "Reckon you would?"

He slapped her across the cheek.

Moments later, when she had fled the room, he came to his senses and leaned panting against his desk. He was only glad that he had not gone for his wand.

*****

The bridge resolved itself into a bass-and-drum beat. Aurora grabbed the mike and began to speak-sing again.

_I take one, one, one 'cause you left me  
and two, two, two for my family  
and three, three, three for my heartaches  
and four, four, four for my headaches  
and five, five, five for my lonely  
and six, six, six for my sorrow,  
and seven, seven for no tomorrow,  
and eight, eight, I forget what eight was for,  
and nine, nine, nine for a lost god  
and ten, ten, ten, ten  
for everything,  
everything,  
everything,  
everything._

Aurora moaned her way through the chorus again, then raised her hands to the crowd. "Now, everybody!" Snape stood stone-faced as the students screamed,

_You can all just kiss off into the air.  
Behind my back I can see that stare.  
They'll hurt me bad, but I won't mind.  
They'll hurt me bad: they do it all the time._

****

A/N: "Kiss Off" was written and recorded by the Violent Femmes.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 2 rated T+ for language.

*****

"You fancy him, don't you?"

"Who?" The little girl did not look up from the stick fort she was constructing.

Severus jerked his head toward the boys standing near the lake. One of them made a sudden move, as if to push another into the water just as the giant squid paddled by.

"Black," he sneered. His voice dripped with all the venom his seventeen-year-old throat could muster.

Rora wrinkled her nose and shook her head violently, pigtails thrashing. "No way."

"No? Are you sure?"

"Sirius is kinda mean," she murmured.

The dark-haired boy raised his eyebrows at her understatement. "So why were you watching them?"

She shrugged and stabbed a leaf with a twig to make a pennant. He could barely see her face flushing in the shadow of the trees.

"Not Black, then..." Severus swung his hair out of his eyes and looked back at the group by the lake. "Not Pettigrew?"

"Ew!" Rora shoved him, laughing. "Poor Peter! He looks like, dunno, a marmot or something."

Severus shoved her right back. "What in Merlin's name is a marmot?"

"Y'know, a ferret-type thing. I think."

"Budding zoologist, you are."

"Well, it's a great word, isn't it? 'Marmot.' 'Marmot.'" She rolled the word around her mouth like a polished stone.

"You're watching them again."

"Am not."

"Are too." Severus tugged her pigtail, as if that settled it.

Rora turned to look at the back of her arm and picked intently at a scab on her elbow.

"Potter, is it?"

"Bleccch, Lily can have him." She glanced up suddenly. "Sorry."

The boy was chewing his lip. "S'all right." He poked at her stick fort. "Doesn't matter anymore." With a start, his eyes shot to the boys by the lake, then back to her. The smile on his face was both shocked and evilly triumphant. "Lupin? It's fucking Lupin, is it?"

Rora stood up and brushed off the seat of her pants. Her chubby face was red as a beet. "Can I play with your Potions kit?"

"Don't change the subject, miss!"

She scuffed her foot in the dirt. "He's nice."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Fantastic. Best propose marriage before some other girl notices how _nice_ he is." He glanced up and saw a tear sliding down her filthy cheek. Glowering, he kicked the stump he was sitting on with his heel. "Oh, Aurora, I'm a right bastard."

The girl snuffled and came to sit beside him on the stump. He picked a leaf out of her hair. He thought for a moment to put his arm around her, but he reckoned she would just shove him off.

"What are you going to do next year, Sev?" she whispered.

The boy turned his head. Her face was open and innocent, her eyes wide with fright. She was afraid for _him_, he realized. Then he did put his arm around her.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 3 rated T+ for language.

*****

"Severus, walk with us, won't you?"

Dumbledore turned and strode away from the Three Broomsticks, offering his arm to Aurora. Snape pursed his lips in a moue of displeasure, then headed after them. They had left Hogsmeade well behind when the headmaster spoke again:

"Professor Sinistra has a proposal for you, Severus."

Snape leaned around Dumbledore's body to look at his female colleague. She stared straight ahead, jaw clenched. Usually he could read her expression easily, but he could glean nothing from her face now.

Dumbledore caught his eye. "I can't say I agree with her choice to address this, but you are both adults. More or less."

Snape made a harrumphing noise.

The old wizard laid a finger by the side of his nose. "I have just remembered that there is something I must discuss with Minerva. I'm afraid I must leave you and forge ahead." Disentangling Aurora's hand from his arm, he scooted her toward Severus and tucked her fingers behind the younger wizard's elbow. Snape grimaced and stepped aside.

"Ah," Dumbledore commented dryly, striding away. "I'll send Hagrid soon to collect the body parts."

"'Something I must discuss with Minerva,' my arse," Snape muttered. He crossed his arms over his chest.

Aurora turned to the Potions master, stepping toe to toe. Her eyes challenged him to back away. "I don't know how to approach this, Severus, so here goes: I want in."

Snape's eyebrow curled upward. "In?" he repeated precisely. "_Je ne comprends pas."_

Aurora's posture changed, and she looked around nervously. "I know about..." Her voice trailed off as she gestured with her eyes toward his left forearm.

The wizard's brow furrowed. "What are you on about, you ridiculous girl? You've known about my mark for twenty-odd years!"

She leaned into him, and he could feel the heat of her body in the chill autumn air. She was close enough to kiss. "Yes, of course, Severus," she rushed in an undertone, "but now I understand the extent to which you've..._betrayed_ it." Her last words were scarcely a whisper.

Snape's eyes darted around as hers had done moments before. He pulled his wand from his robes. "_Muffliato_," he hissed.

Aurora knew the beginnings of the cold rage swelling in him, so she pressed on before he could stop her. "I know that you're working for Albus, that you're a double agent. I know that you haven't really betrayed us: the Order, Harry, any of us. You-Know-Who is back, and he thinks you're his loyal servant, but you're not, are you? Are you?" Her breath puffed white in the darkness. "I want to help."

Snape turned on his heel without a word and continued up the path toward Hogwarts. Aurora followed him, her long legs easily matching his furious stride.

"Oi!" she called in a stage whisper, feeling ridiculously cloak-and-dagger. "Introduce me to Him. I can help you. I can become a Death Eater. You don't have to do this alone."

He rounded on her suddenly, face contorted. Waving his wand impatiently to ensure continuance of his muffling spell, he spat, "I never thought to hear such idiocy from you. I don't care what you _think_ you know, or how you leapt to that utterly improbable conclusion, but what you must do immediately is keep your mouth shut and mind your own fucking business!"

"Oh, Merlin, it's true, isn't it?" Aurora gasped. She took a step forward, placing her palm on his chest. "What has He done to you?" As the words erupted from her mouth, she was not sure if "He" meant Voldemort or Dumbledore.

Snape recoiled from her touch. "Don't worry about what He's done."

"And what _you've_ done?"

"Nor that, either!" he snarled.

Persistent, she stepped close to him again. "I'm not afraid of you, Severus. You've hurt me before, do you remember? But here I am again."

Snape's chest heaved as he glared at her. How was it that she could always do this: always rip the emotions he had carefully hidden inside himself right to the surface? If he could hide his thoughts from the Dark Lord...

_...but _she_ can't._

He tried to slow his breathing. "You haven't got the skills," Snape said levelly. "He would know you in a heartbeat."

Aurora cocked her chin up toward him, as if challenging him to punch her lights out. "Try me."

The wizard merely stared at her. His cloak rustled in the night wind.

"Albus thinks you might be a stronger Legilimens than You-Know-Who. So if I can block you, I can block him."

Snape's eyes flew wide in genuine shock. "Occlumency? Honestly, Rora, you have the worst poker face I know!"

"Try me," she repeated.

Snape shook his head and reached out with his mind, ready to pluck the easiest of her straying thoughts.

He got nothing.

Cocking his head, he tried again, pushing deeper this time.

Nothing.

Aurora looked both terrified and triumphant. He placed his hand on the side of her face and leaned in for a third attempt. She met his gaze, searching his eyes. Her plump lips were bare millimeters from his own.

"You see?" she whispered.

"I see nothing. How is this possible? Where did you learn this? Aurora, what have you done?"


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 4 rated M for language and sexuality.

*****

Snape heard voices in the woods.

Well, not voices exactly. But they were definitely human noises. He left the path to investigate, covering himself with a Disillusionment.

_Students lingering in the dark after a day in Hogsmeade, no doubt._

As Snape circled a giant oak, he saw what appeared to be a young man scuffling with the tree. Then there was a flash of white skin and a giggle.

His guess had been right. These adolescents were so mercilessly predictable. "What, may I ask, is going on here?" he drawled, already bored with the encounter.

The boy whipped around, startled. Snape recognized him: Kevin Toomer, one of his own Slytherins. Then he recognized the girl pressed between lad and tree.

It was Aurora.

Severus registered the pale expanse of her naked torso. Her leather jacket was halfway off her shoulders, her t-shirt rucked up to her neck to expose her breasts to the youth's grasping hands.

He rounded on Toomer. "My office. Now. I will join you shortly."

The boy cast a nervous look at Aurora.

"Go on," she said, relaxing calmly against the tree. Her lips, swollen from kissing, curved in a small smile. She did not cover herself up.

"Yes," Snape mocked. "Go on."

Toomer backed toward the path. In a moment the darkness of the spring night had swallowed him.

When he turned back to Aurora, she was still smiling.

"Toomer?" Snape asked, prowling around her like a dark, lanky cat. "Honestly." He could not avoid looking at her nipples, which had tightened into hard, pink berries in the cool air. They looked delicious.

She shrugged, and her pectorals flexed in a most appealing way. "He fancies me."

"He fancies _something_, I reckon," Snape retorted. "Oh, _do_ cover yourself. I am a professor."

With a twinkle in her eye, Aurora clapped her hands over her breasts. Somehow, this pseudo-modesty struck Severus as even more erotic than her stark nudity had been. He imagined how her hard little nipples would feel under his own palms, how she would gasp as he caressed her sensitive flesh. Her breasts would make perfect handfuls.

"You're not _my_ professor," she teased. Her soft, flat belly rose and fell above the line of her black jeans with each breath. Merlin, he could make a meal of her.

Snape swallowed. "Is that why you didn't continue with Advanced Potions when you transferred to Hogwarts?"

Aurora snorted in a very unladylike manner. "No, I didn't continue with Potions because I couldn't give a good goddamn about it."

"Well, clearly you're not getting enough discipline in Runes and Astronomy." He spat the names of the classes as if they tasted foul in his mouth.

The girl cocked her head. "Going to slap me again, Severus?" she asked softly.

He startled. She stepped toward him, dropping her hands to reveal her breasts again. "Go on," Aurora dared. "Tell me what a slut I am. I need discipline, do I? Then tell me what sort of discipline a whore like me deserves." Her eyes burned with a curious fire.

"You're better than this," he enunciated carefully. "Better than _him_, Aurora." Snape gestured with his head in the direction Toomer had fled.

She reached up and twined her arms around his neck. "It's okay, Severus," she whispered. "You can call me 'Lily'."

His breath caught. His eyes flew wide in rage.

Aurora laughed darkly. "I'm a fucking slag, aren't I?"

"You're a little girl," he bellowed into her face, only inches away, "and you don't know what you're playing at."

She stared, face slack with shock. Then her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the forest floor. Snape grabbed her arm, hauled her up unceremoniously, and jerked her shirt down over her exposed torso. Then he dragged her toward the path and up the hill to Hogwarts.

"Normally, I would send a student to her head of house under these circumstances," he hissed in her ear, pinching her flesh cruelly through the leather of her jacket. "But I wouldn't inflict you on the good Professor Flitwick. He isn't as familiar with your childish games as I am."

There were a few students in the halls as he entered the castle with Aurora in tow, but they pointedly looked away. No one else was interested in suffering Snape's wrath, especially when it was at off-the-charts levels. She was sobbing with rage and frustration when Snape flung her into the chair in McGonagall's office.

"Minerva, I know this child is not one of yours, but, as a woman, would you be so kind as to explain to her what happens to tarts. If you'll excuse me, her handsome _paramour_ should be waiting in my dungeon."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 5 rated M for language and sexuality.

*****

Aurora led him off the path into the woods. He was uncomfortably aware of their location.

"Do you remember this tree?" She stroked the oak's bark, thoughtfully.

He remained silent. The wind rustled in the leaves. Turning to face him, she began to unfasten her robe. Snape's eyebrows bunched. "What are you doing?" he asked sharply.

"_Deja vu_?" she taunted. Pulling open her robe, she lifted up the jumper she was wearing underneath. "I thought you wanted to know how I went from naught to Occlumency in 3.6 seconds."

He clearly did not understand the reference.

Aurora sighed and yanked her brassiere up over her breasts.

Snape's breath caught.

"I know: I've gotten fat."

He had indeed noticed when she returned to Hogwarts as a professor that her figure had filled out. The change was not an unpleasant one. She had been a willowy adolescent, but Aurora was tall and wore her new curves well. As a grown woman she was less gangly, more statuesque. Now he could see that her bosom had plumped somewhat since he last had occasion to inspect it. Her nipples were the same youthful, puffy pink, however. Her breasts, in fact, were more enticing than ever.

Something else about her body had changed, too. Several rows of dark black runes were tattooed around the top part of her ribcage, just beneath where her bra had lain. Snape recognized in the runes a powerful Occlumency spell. He stepped toward her, fascinated, and leaned down to examine the tattoo.

"This actually works?"

Aurora nodded. "I found mention of it in a letter of Gregory Ostorius. I tried it with regular ink, just written on, and it held off the most powerful Legilimentes I could find. So it seemed like a worthwhile six hours under the needle." She looked suddenly shy. "But I didn't know if it would be strong enough to withstand you."

Snape outlined one of the runes with his fingertip. He barely registered the gooseflesh that sprang up on her body as he touched her. She would not be the first woman he had disgusted. He was not, however, blind to that fact that his lips were mere inches away from the soft flesh of her breasts.

"The Muggle artist who did it believes it's some nonsense off a tor somewhere," Aurora explained, grinning.

The cool night air had hardened her nipples. He ached to close his mouth around one of them. He bit the inside of his cheek instead.

"But Dumbledore knows?" Snape asked.

She shook her head no.

He raised his eyes to meet hers. "If You-Know-Who discovered this, he would kill you. Immediately."

"That's exactly why it must be between me and thee." Aurora tapped his chest playfully with a slim finger.

Snape's mouth quirked incredulously.

She grabbed his shoulder excitedly. "Don't you see? If it can repel you, it can repel Him!"

Severus' face betrayed nothing. He was silent a moment.

"There's no way He would find out. How would He?" she gushed. "It'll work!"

Finally Severus sighed. "He would never trust you, Aurora. Your parents fought against Him. They left you in America and came back expressly for that purpose."

The woman nodded. "Yes, but it's no secret that since they died I've been a rebel, attracted to the "dark side". And I've always been your friend, Severus. He trusts you, doesn't He? More than the others?" She took a deep breath. "We must tell Him that we've become lovers. If He believes that I'm your lover-"

Something inside Severus contracted. _Not an option_. "You still have that abomination on your forearm?"

Aurora froze, eyes wide. "I'll enchant it," she whispered.

His heart plummeted. He had hoped that she had some clever solution to that problem, but she clearly had not thought of it as an issue. "What if He were to offer you the Dark Mark, Aurora? When He sees that thing on your arm, He will know. Then he will kill both of us."

"I'll have it removed. The Muggles have lasers-"

"How soon?"

Her lips parted in panic. "I'll cut it out. Burn it off."

"There would be a scar: highly suspicious."

"Severus, I can make this work."

"The answer, Aurora, is 'no'." He turned away from her.

She clutched at his shoulder. "I can help you!"

Snape shrugged her hand off and cast as disdainful a look as he could muster at her bare torso. "Cover yourself. We're going back to the castle."

"Goddamn it, Severus, you were looking for a reason to refuse me, any reason!" she yelled after him.

He did not stop walking.

"Just like you always do," she added miserably.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 6 rated T.

*****

"Mummy said I could ask you for help with my homework." Rora smiled over her shoulder at the blonde woman seated at the faculty table. Professor Rhea Sinistra winked at them.

Severus scooched over on the bench to make room for the young girl.

"Merlin's beard, Snivellus," called Sirius Black from the Gryffindor table in a stage whisper. "Don't let her strap on the feedbag again: she'll tip all the other Slytherins off that bench."

"Shut it, Sirius!" Lily Evans looked over at Aurora kindly. "He didn't mean it, darling."

Rora hunched down and tucked herself deeper into her robes, biting her lip. The edge of her notebook cut into her fingers. She was achingly aware that Remus Lupin had heard his friend's joke. Chubby face flushed, she struggled not to cry.

Severus sighed. "Look, what do you need help with?" He met Black's eyes defiantly as he twisted to pick up his satchel from underneath the bench. The self-styled Marauders had made it clear they felt his friendship with the professors' daughter was unsavory at best. James Potter sniggered and leaned over to whisper something in Black's ear. Rora remained silent, still fighting off tears.

"Is it maths again?" Severus prodded.

The girl nodded her head 'yes'. Her pudgy fists clenched in the folds of her school robes. She hoped that her parents were not watching.

"Come on, then. Let's go to the library."

Rora slunk off of the Slytherin bench and headed for the door to the Great Hall, wishing herself tiny and invisible. "Wankers," Severus mouthed at the Marauders as they passed the Griffyndors. Potter responded with a rude gesture next to his body, where the faculty could not see.

The lanky, dark-haired boy and the chubby, fair-haired girl were quiet as they mounted the steps to the library. Snape's satchel bounced against his back. Rora clutched her maths text and notebook to her chest. The notebook was illustrated with lifelike ladybugs that crawled and flitted around the cover. They were almost to the library when they passed the painting of the pretty Welsh shepherdess, who took one look at Rora and cried, "Poppet, what's wrong?"

"I'm not your poppet!" Aurora wailed. She kicked at a gargoyle statue with her trainer. "And I'm not your Lily's pet, either," she announced, rounding on Severus. The dam, it seemed, had broken. "She's the worst of them, you know. She acts so high-and-mighty. But she's just a high-po-cright."

"'Hypocrite'," the youth corrected her. Her vocabulary was excellent for a child of eight, but he had found through the years that, since she learned her words by reading, her pronunciation was not always on point. "Do you understand what that word means, Rora?"

"Yeah," she retorted as they entered the library and found an empty table. "It's someone who pretends to believe one thing, but does another. And that's what Lily does. She acts like she's nice, but then she spends all her time with James and that lot."

Severus could hardly argue with this definition. He too had found Lily's behavior to be somewhat antithetical to his understanding of her nature.

Rora sat down and opened her notebook. "Oh, bugger, where's that quill gone?" She reached for his satchel.

"Aurora, seeing as you do have an excellent vocabulary, I'll thank you to exercise its use more widely. I would prefer to have heard something more along the lines of 'Botheration, I seem to have forgotten to bring a quill along. Might I inconvenience you, dear Severus, to lend me one of yours?'"

The girl giggled, and, after a moment, Snape's pompous mask crumbled into laughter. Rora grinned at him; he laughed so rarely. Her fingers brushed the feather of a quill inside his bag, and she grabbed for it.

"Sev, I think..." Her voice trailed off as she stared quizzically at the object in her hand. It looked like an ordinary quill, but... "This quill smells sort of funny." Rora brought it to her face and sniffed it experimentally. Her eyes began to water at the strong odor.

"Rora, don't!" Severus reached for the quill, but it was too late.

As the edge of the feather brushed against the girl's face, she shrieked in pain. Her cheeks seemed to go blurry, then Severus gasped as he saw the skin actually bubbling. Her flesh seethed as if there were beetles crawling under it. Aurora's mouth became a blood-red gash wailing inside the rolling boil that was now her face.

"Gods, no!" Severus reached for Aurora and grabbed her up into his arms, ignoring her panicked flailing. He took off at a run for the hospital wing. "Ssh, ssh, calm down," he begged as she wriggled against his chest in pain. The boiling effect seemed now to be spreading down her neck to her chest. "Make way," he snarled at a group of Hufflepuffs who were blocking the corridor. The astonished students scrambled to avoid him, staring and exclaiming after his back.

"Madam Pomfrey!" Snape screamed as he barreled through the hospital doors. The mediwitch took one look at the writhing girl and directed Severus to lay her on a bed.

"It was...a quill. Some...kind of...hex?" he gasped and leaned forward, putting his hands on his knees, to catch his breath. He watched through the swaying hanks of his dark hair as the witch ran her wand over Aurora. The girl continued to scream. Severus wanted to jam his fingers into his ears; he could not bear the sound. A choking feeling flooded his throat which had nothing to do with his previous lack of cardiovascular exercise. "Please help her. Please."

Madam Pomfrey held up a finger and whisked off to her pharmacy. In seconds she returned with a potion that looked like vermilion honey. She drizzled it over the affected skin on Aurora's face and neck, then used her wand to cast a charm.

"Rora?" Severus whispered, as the girl's flesh calmed and smoothed. Her shrieks settled into desperate sobs. She threw her arms around Poppy Pomfrey's neck, breath hitching in her chest. The mediwitch met Snape's eyes over Aurora's shoulder.

"Go get her parents," Madam Pomfrey said quietly.

Aurora whirled around in a panic. "No, Sev, don't leave me!" She reached out and clutched for his hand. Her fingers were wet and clammy. He sat down on the bed and stroked the sweaty hair out of her face, squeezing her hand in his.

"Very well," Madam Pomfrey muttered. With a wave of her wand, she sent her _patronus_ after the Professors Sinistra.

****

Rhea sat by her daughter's head, sponging off her salt-stained face and singing quietly to her. But still Aurora would not let go of Severus' hand. Outside the hospital door, she could hear raised voices: her father's, Dumbledore's, James Potter's, Sirius Black's. The calming potion that Madam Pomfrey had administered was kicking in, and Aurora drifted comfortably.

After what might have been five minutes or five hours, a young man slipped into the room. "Professor," he began, "I can't begin to apologize for our behav-"

"I believe I need a word with my husband," Rhea interrupted crisply. She leaned over to kiss her daughter's forehead. "I'll be right back, darling." Aurora murmured a soft protest. "Severus will stay. Won't you?"

Snape nodded at the professor, his eyes on the young man who had just joined them. Rhea blew a kiss to her daughter, then slipped out into the hall.

Aurora blinked the sleep out of her eyes and tried to focus on the newcomer. He moved a little closer, and, as he approached, a shaft of light fell across his light brown hair.

Remus Lupin.

Snape's gaze shot daggers as the young Gryffindor sat nervously in the chair by Aurora's bed. The Slytherin was, in fact, inclined to growl protectively.

"Aurora, we are _so_ sorry. Sirius and James meant it to be a joke-"

"On me, of course." Severus' voice was flat and cold as the grave.

Lupin eyed the dark-haired youth warily. "Er, yes." He turned back to Aurora. "We never imagined that _you_ would get hurt. Or that it would backfire so...horribly."

The blonde girl stared at the ceiling for a moment, then looked at Lupin. "It's all right, Remus. I know it was Sirius and James. I don't blame you." She squinted at him. "What exactly did you all do to that quill, anyway?"

Snape cleared his throat and disentangled his hand from Aurora's hot fingers. "I'll leave you two to discuss this in private."

"Sev!" the girl gasped. The look of shock and hurt in her eyes tore at him.

Severus smiled grimly. "You'll be fine without me, Rora." And, with that, he turned on his heel and left the hospital.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 7 rated T+ for language.

*****

Snape tapped the wizarding radio with his wand.

"Albus," he murmured. "Mad-Eye...Tonks..."

The radio crackled to life: "Thanks very much for that report, Royal. We ask our listeners to keep an eye out for activity of that nature."

There had been rumors which Severus had not really believed. But, sure enough, there was Lupin's familiar voice announcing the news and relaying the latest about the underground rebellion, such as it was.

This, it seemed, was Potterwatch.

Snape settled down to listen: supposed sightings, warnings, word from the front. The code names amused him. _River? Romulus? Ridiculous!_ But the announcers sounded truly desperate, despite their efforts at jovial bonhomie.

"What is this nonsense?" Phineas Nigellus Black groused from his portrait. Snape looked up, frowning, and flapped his hand impatiently at the former headmaster.

Then he heard Jordan (_beg pardon, '_River_'_) making an introduction: "Welcome, Eos. It's great to have you with us."

"It's great to be had," she replied, the smile evident in her voice.

Snape's jaw dropped. He rapped the radio with his wand to increase the volume.

"So what've you got for us tonight, love?" Jordan asked.

"Thought I'd hold it down for the New World with a little Neil Young, 'love'."

Snape's mouth could not help but quirk at the twist she put on the endearment.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have known this witch a long time..."

_You sure fucking have, Lupin. And how _well_ have you known her, eh?_

"...and hearing her sing is always a treat. We hope you enjoy."

There was a gentle feminine laugh, and then Aurora sang, without accompaniment, without piano or guitar. Her voice echoed around whatever room they had chosen as their secret location on this night.

_Old man lying by the side of the road  
with the lorries rolling by.  
Blue moon sinking from the weight of the load  
and the buildings scrape the sky._

How on earth had they contacted her? How had she traveled to them? In his mind Severus knew that she lived here at Hogwarts, inside the very same castle as he. But, on the radio, and in his heart, she sounded so far away from him.

_Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn  
and the morning paper flies.  
Dead man lying by the side of the road  
with the daylight in his eyes.  
Don't let it bring you down: it's only castles burning.  
Find someone who's turning, and you will come around._

Severus slumped in his chair and covered his face with his hands.

****

Aurora remained on the roof of the tower long after the students had been dismissed from her midnight lesson. She sat with her back against a turret, enjoying the night wind on her face. The Carrows left her alone when she was on the tower. Perhaps it was respect for her professional space. Or perhaps their wheezing lungs would not permit the climb. Regardless, up here she could pretend that she was free.

The hinge squeaked as Snape opened the door onto the roof. She said nothing, turning her gaze back to Orion. He came to stand beside her and looked out over the parapet.

"I enjoyed your performance this evening," he drawled after a long silence.

Aurora swallowed. "I don't follow."

"Potterwatch," Snape said so quietly that she was almost unsure he had spoken.

Aurora closed her eyes and sighed, then looked up at him. "Look, Sev, either come down here or pull me up there, because I don't fancy having this conversation with your left knee."

"I'll come down."

"How very chivalrous."

The latest headmaster of Hogwarts knelt and, resting an elbow on one cocked knee, settled his back against the turret next to her. "I'm blaming you if I can't get back up again." As he spoke, his mouth quirked in what Aurora knew was a smile. Her gaze roamed over the rest of his face as he showed her his profile. There were dark bags under his eyes, and he wore wrinkles that belonged to a much older man. His normally pallid skin was even sallower than usual.

"You look like hell."

"I am too old for this shit," he responded distinctly, scratching his beaky nose.

"You're not forty yet," Aurora objected. Severus made no reply. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them. "Not much longer now, huh?"

"Not much longer," he agreed.

"Wish you had let me help," Aurora muttered.

Snape sniffed pointedly.

They sat in companionable silence for a little while.

"How do they contact you?" Severus finally asked.

"It's best if you don't know."

His eyebrows twitched. "It doesn't matter if I know. He won't find out. I swear it."

"I believe that, Severus." Aurora rested her chin on her forearm. "But I owe it to them to keep it a secret."

"You owe it?" he snorted. "To whom? Lupin?"

"Oh, please."

Snape cut his eyes to the side. Was that nonchalance true or feigned?

Aurora stretched her legs out, yawning. She held up her hands and studied them in the moonlight. "I feel pretty old, myself." She strangled an urge to rest her head on Snape's shoulder; he would just shove her off. _Although there was a time when he would have allowed it_. "Twenty-five years is a long time, Sev. We've been through a lot, you and I."

"We've lived in interesting times."

A cloud passed over the moon, making the shadows on the tower dance.

"Do you remember when I came back to Hogwarts, after my parents died?"

"You were a sixth-year."

"A junior, in the States."

"I couldn't believe it was you." Snape rolled the back of his head against the stone to face her. He looked exhausted in the moonlight. "I remember staring at a teenaged girl, wondering why Dumbledore was telling me she was Aurora. And that _punk_ look..."

"Yeah, I was a hot mess, wasn't I?"

"Definitely hot," he murmured.

Aurora blinked. "Beg pardon?"

Severus chuckled. She had never heard a sound as old and tired. His eyes were inscrutable as black diamonds. "I could have gotten myself fired over you."

Her mouth fell open. He shook his head before she had a chance to speak.

"But you have never thought you were worth a goddamn thing. And that is something that I've never understood."

Aurora fought the urge, but eventually she took his hand in hers. His long fingers were blunt and calloused, cold from the night air and the chill stone of the tower. Miraculously, Snape did not pull away. She stared down at the hand that she used to know so well.

"_There's something wrong in my stars," _she sang softly.

_Could you look at my chart and help me heal these scars?  
Could you learn to read minds?  
In the case of mine, do you read in the dark?  
Honey, don't think about it too long now.  
Honey, don't think: you're liable to figure me out.  
You don't want to figure me out.  
You don't want to figure me out._

Snape's hand twitched in hers. "Hearing you sing is one of the few true pleasures in my life," he admitted quietly.

Aurora's heart flipped over in her chest. "Time for confessions, is it?" she teased lightly.

He chuckled again.

Aurora sighed. "I used to try so hard to make you laugh. I always loved making you laugh." She was so tired, and it was so late.

Not much longer now.

She took a deep breath. "I always loved you, Severus."

Aurora's eyes found the bright stars of Orion's belt again as Snape used the parapet to push himself up. She heard the door hinge creak, and he was gone.

****

A/N: "Don't Let It Bring You Down" was written and performed by Neil Young (altho Annie Lennox does a great version). "Honey, Don't Think" is by Grant Lee Buffalo.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 8 rated T+ for suggested violence and drug use.

*****

"I have no desire to speak of this further."

Rushing winds roared around the castle as Aurora took a seat opposite Snape's desk. She examined his office. It had not changed much since she was a student.

"No poor souls in detention, Professor?" she asked mildly.

Snape did not look up from his notes.

"You think I'm too weak, Severus. I know that. I know you think I won't be able

to hack it, that I'll give you away somehow."

The Potions master's eyes lifted to regard her coldly. _How like a snake he can be_, she thought.

"I have informed you already that I do not care to discuss this issue." The last word was a sneering hiss.

Aurora's eyes flashed in response. "Perhaps I should take my top off. That seemed to hold your attention well enough."

Snape stared down at the volume on his desk. A curtain of hair hid his face, but Aurora could see that his hands were shaking. A sliver of unease pricked her belly. For the first time in her life, she seriously considered that Severus might actually do her harm. It was in this very room that he had slapped her face, once, long ago. But ten years had changed her old friend.

She waited, rubbing her thumb nervously against her fingers.

"He asks His followers to do things you could not even begin to conceive." Snape's voice was flat and emotionless.

"Where do you think I've been since I left school, Severus? Disney World?" she demanded indignantly. Aurora rolled up the left sleeve of her robe and unbuttoned the cuff of her blouse.

"I assure you, Professor, that nudity is not required," he drawled.

Aurora slammed her bare arm down on the top of his desk. "Well, you don't get these on the 'It's a Small World' ride." She indicated the dozens of tiny scars that marred her white flesh. Several were clustered around the faux Dark Mark with which she had emblazoned herself. "Do you know what they are?"

"Injection sites." Snape's brows twitched, but otherwise his face was unreadable.

"I never used magic the whole time I was using. I gave it up. Went cold turkey, you could say." Her laugh was bitter as bile. "So when I overused a site, or a track mark got infected, I didn't use magic to cure it. The Muggles have such wonderful ways to die slowly." She covered up her arm, suddenly horrified at the notion of him seeing her like that one moment longer. "And those are just the scars you can see," she spat.

Snape rose suddenly and, resting his palms on the desk, leaned over her. His eyes were burning like dark stars, his breathing just a trifle heavy.

"The first night," he explained, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will ask you to take a life, likely a Muggle, probably very young. It amuses Him to set the females against a child. I think it somehow fulfills His notion that women are merciless and unscrupulous. So you will have to prove yourself by murdering a child using _Avada Kedavra_."

Aurora held herself tense so she would not flinch at his words. His gaze did not leave hers.

"And you know that the Unforgivable Curses only work if the author truly means them. You must truly intend, in your heart, to end that Muggle child's life. Once you have committed your first murder in His name, you will be asked to participate in other acts of terror. There is a good deal of killing. And rape. You will stand by and laugh while the male followers assault a woman before killing her. And not only the men: one time I saw Bellatrix..."

Snape fell silent. The only sound was the shrieking of the wind outside Hogwarts Castle.

Aurora swallowed and stood up. She placed a hand on either side of her friend's face. Severus started a little but suffered her touch. "I can do this," she said deliberately, staring into his black eyes. "I can do this with you."

The man met her gaze evenly. "There is no force on earth that would compel me to offer you up to Him."


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 8 rated M for sexuality.

*****

Severus sighed and squinted at the jar in front of him. 'Manticore's spleen', it read. There was no sound in the dungeons of Hogwarts besides the crackling of his office fire and the soft clink of the flasks as Snape shifted them around. He glanced at the clock: 11:30 p.m. He should turn in soon, even if he had not finished the inventory.

There was a sound.

Someone had released the wards to his office and opened the door. He turned to catch sight of long pale fingers with black nail varnish and knew exactly who it was. _Why is Aurora coming to see me in the middle of the night?_ But, no, she did not expect him to be in his office; she had undone the wards instead of knocking.

_So what does she want?_ _And how did she manage to banish my wards?_

Snape hesitated for a fraction of a second, but curiosity won out. He waved his wand to snuff the lamps in his storage room, then cast a Disillusionment over himself. If she did not look for him, she would not see him.

Aurora slipped into his office and surveyed the room. There was a fire burning in the hearth, but otherwise she saw no sign of life. She smiled. The girl sauntered over to his desk and trailed a hand over its top. Her attitude, normally so insolent, was oddly reverent as she performed this action.

_How did she bypass Filch_? Severus wondered, but he knew the answer as sure as he knew Aurora's soft beauty in the semi-dark. Argus Filch had known the Sinistras since Aurora was a small child. Despite his dour disposition and normally dim view of young people, Filch had doted on the fair-haired daughter of the Professors Sinistra, as had the entire staff of Hogwarts. Despite his threats to treat Aurora like any other student, Filch would likely give her a pass if she smiled winningly and produced some innocent reason for wandering the castle after bedtime.

Aurora walked around the desk to sit in Snape's own chair. Her back was now turned toward the man himself. Her short-cropped hair glowed like a halo in the firelight. She slumped back in the chair and sighed, gripping the armrests. Then the girl kicked off her trainers to reveal bare feet.

Severus' brow furrowed. _What is she doing?_

His concern was soon resolved in a terrifyingly glorious way when Aurora rose and slid her robes over her head to reveal a nightdress. The thin garment soon followed her robes onto the floor. She now stood where he himself had stood so many times. But he had never stood there in complete undress.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the youthful lines of her back and bottom. His gaze devoured the long, graceful expanse of pale flesh. When she turned toward him, the curve of her backside as it met her thigh stopped his heart for just a moment. Aurora settled herself on the edge of his desk, cupping her own breasts thoughtfully.

Snape took an unintentional step back, then silently renewed his Disillusionment. If she looked up, into the doorway of the storage room...

But she did not. Her eyes were focused on his desk chair. A dreamy smile played over her lips. It was still cool in the dungeons, even in May, and gooseflesh puckered her skin. She reached down into the pile her robes had made on the floor and removed a small flask. One thumb toyed idly with her nipple as she took a healthy draught.

_She's drunk!_ Snape realized. He willed himself to close his eyes, to shut out this secret, shameful moment of a girl he had known when she was a child.

At that moment, Aurora let her fingers trail down her smooth belly toward the patch of curls where her thighs met. She put down the flask and propped one foot on the seat of his desk chair. She scooted her hips forward on the desk, allowing her thighs to fall apart.

_Stop this, Severus, before it goes any further! It's Aurora! Stop it now...._

The girl bit her lower lip and slid one finger between her legs. She tossed her head back, eyes slipping shut. Another finger joined the first. Aurora parted her legs further, so that now, in the firelight, Snape could see her dripping pink folds. He watched, fascinated, as she spread her nether lips. He could clearly see her stroking the engorged nub of her clitoris. Snape swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He became aware that his erection was painfully hard. He rubbed the swollen member distractedly through his trousers as he watched Aurora pleasuring herself.

A laugh bubbled up in her throat, and she addressed the chair, "Are you enjoying this?" Her voice was huskier than usual. She slid two fingers into her passage. "Fuck," she hissed with pleasant surprise. "Bet you wish that was your cock, don't you?"

Snape did. He squeezed his erection, willing himself to remain calm.

Aurora's fingers busied themselves inside her passage and at her clit. She began to moan, and her breath was ragged. He could see the long muscles along the inside of her thighs clenching tightly. Suddenly her movements became frenzied.

"Fuck, I'm gonna come. Oh, Severus, fuck!"

Snape groaned aloud when she called his name, his erection harder than he could ever remember it being in his life. His lips formed her name. Aurora was unaware of his plight, however, as she gasped and shuddered, ecstasy washing over her.

When it seemed that she had wrung the last drop of pleasure from her tender, sopping flesh, she rose on shaky legs and took another swig from her flask. She stood for a moment, breathing deeply. Then, with trembling hands, she dressed, grabbed the flask, and stumbled out the door. Snape sensed her replacing the wards.

As soon as he knew she was gone, he collapsed to the floor and tore open his trousers. Leaning his forehead against the sharp edge of the countertop, he stroked himself furiously. Snape remembered the sight of her sex, imagined himself thrusting viciously into her tight, dripping passage. Groaning, he climaxed without warning and spurted his release on the cold stone floor.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 10 rated M for language and drug use.

*****

His eyes were on the stage, on the twenty-year-old in a corset and frothy, tutu-inspired skirt: the impossibly-thin girl wearing four-inch heels and fake eyelashes, belting out the lyrics to a ska-punk version of "Gimme Shelter".

It was her. It was Aurora.

Severus milled with the crowd. He had worn black trousers, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket, and he did not seem to stand out too much from the other patrons of the club. He kept to the shadows and sipped a lager. _Beer_, he corrected himself. _Here in America they call it 'beer'._

The sax-and-horn section backed off, and the bass guitar was left thumping out a dark, industrial beat. Soon the lead guitarist joined in.

"_There's a little black spot on the sun today_," Aurora began._ "It's the same old thing as yesterday."_

The crowd was waving its arms in the air. Many of them were singing along. Some adventurous men in front of the stage were trying to slam-dance to a Sting song.

_I have stood here before inside the pouring rain_

_With the world turning circles, running 'round my brain._

_I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign,_

_but it's my destiny to be the king of pain._

The band kept up the beat as Aurora leaned into the mike and purred, "Ladies, here's some advice. You think you want that lanky cat over there, with the long black hair and the long black clothes. He knows things that he shouldn't. Sometimes you even think he can read minds. 'King of pain,' yeah." She chuckled. "Oh, and he scares the good boys, doesn't he, girls? But who doesn't love tall, dark, and mysterious, right?"

Several drunken women cheered vociferously from the crowd.

"Well, here's the advice, _chicas_: LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE!" Laughter erupted as she screamed the last words. "_There's a little black spot on the sun today,"_ Aurora called, and her band gave the response: "_That's my soul up there_."

*****

"Oi, love, it's one o' your mates from Jolly Olde England," the drummer called in an accent he must have stolen from a Sex Pistols album.

Snape had followed them from the club to this shotgun shack. Now he stood in a cramped and dingy room staring down at her as she sat on the bed.

"Well, Professor, what a surprise!" Aurora said breezily. "What are you doing on this side of the pond?" The drummer appeared curious, but Snape closed the bedroom door in his face. Aurora tilted her head back slightly and cocked an eye at Snape. He knew the look well. She was not going to give him an inch.

_You always were stubborn as an ass_, Snape thought. He leaned against the wall. "Dumbledore and I wanted to see how you were doing."

"And where_ is _Uncle Albus?" Aurora picked up a square of glass and dumped a small packet of white powder onto it. She used a razor blade to corral it into lines. Her actions were gentle, loving even.

"I told him to stay back at Hogwarts. I had a feeling that we might find..." He indicated the cocaine with his eyebrows.

Aurora's laugh was brittle. "Sev, you don't even know what this shit is, and I'm damn sure that Albus doesn't." Snape said nothing as she used a roll of paper to snort a line into her right nostril. She leaned her head back, eyes watering.

Severus cast his eyes around the room. He took in the drug paraphernalia, the bottles of booze, the record player, the tousled bedclothes, the scarf thrown over the lamp. "So how are you?"

"At the moment?" She sniffled. "Fucking brilliant!'

Snape bit down on the inside of his cheek. "This was a mistake," he muttered, turning to the door.

Her shrill laughter trailed him out of the ramshackle house.

****

A/N: "Gimme Shelter" was written and performed by the Rolling Stones. "King of Pain" is, of course, by Sting.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 11 rated T+ for language and suggested violence and drug use.

*****

Aurora remained on the roof of the tower, stunned. Her breath came fast. Her eyes darted around. She felt like sobbing, but no tears came.

_So_, she thought. _So._

She had felt endings hovering around them. She had taken a chance and spoken the words.

_I always loved you, Severus._

But he, it seemed, did not love her. She did not know a culture in the world where stalking off in silence constituted a response of "I love you, too".

Quieter than the ghosts that haunted Hogwarts, Aurora re-entered the tower, trailed down the long flight of steps, and returned to her rooms. She considered lying down to sleep, but her mind would not let her relax.

Years ago she would have done something dramatic under these circumstances, perhaps burned or slashed her skin, either with her wand or by other means. Punched walls. Drunk herself into oblivion. But now she was too tired. She felt so very old. None of these actions would remedy her situation. None of them would ease the long empty days of struggle stretching before her. There was no more hope, not for her. She was a professor of Hogwarts, and she must protect her students from the Dark Lord. And that was all there was.

She could really use a hit.

Aurora changed out of her teaching robes and pulled on an old t-shirt over her underpants. Clearing her exercise space on the floor, she began her first of nine repetitions of the sun series.

She had been clean for six years, and it was yoga, with its associated breathing and calming techniques, that had been her constant companion throughout her struggle for sobriety. Plus, it kept off what her counselor Jane had called "those extra rehab pounds".

She breathed oxygen into her tired muscles, progressing through each of the _asanas_ in her normal routine. The repetition and familiarity soothed her. When she was sweaty and trembling with fatigue, Aurora drank a glass of orange juice with a dash of pomegranate, then lit a candle. She knelt on the floor, focusing herself on the flame, visualizing the red-orange warmth of the candle flooding her body.

At half-five Aurora stepped into the shower. She lathered her hair with jasmine-scented shampoo, scrubbed herself, and shaved everything below the neck, as was her habit. She wasted several minutes of the glorious hot water wracked with great heaving sobs. Then she cleansed her face, washing off the salt.

When she had stepped out of the shower and toweled off, she slathered herself with a generous amount of lotion. Professor Sinistra did not usually take such care over her toilette, but she had learned long ago that the surest way to calm herself was to focus on tiny details.

The first hints of daylight were creeping over the moors as Aurora wrapped herself in her bathrobe and made a cup of tea on the hearth. The kettle had not yet whistled when she heard a knock on the door. She banished the wards and cracked the door open.

Amycus Carrow.

"Professor Sinistra," Carrow wheezed, leering at her state of undress. Or perhaps at the bathrobe itself, which was bright pink and had goth Hello Kitty figures dancing all over it.

She did not open the door to admit him. Nevertheless, the filthy pervert crowded toward the opening, as if to tell her a secret. At some point in the last months, he seemed somehow to have generated the idea that, if she could be friends with Snape, she might be amenable to a romantic encounter with Amycus himself.

"The Headmaster would like to see you at your earliest convenience."

Aurora was barely able to contain her confusion. "Professor Snape?"

"Yehhhs," Carrow confirmed, inflicting on her what he must have believed to be a winning smile.

She thought quickly. It had only been a few hours since Severus had left her on the tower. Had something happened? If it was something to do with Harry or the Order, why would he send for her and not McGonagall or one of the others? And why had he issued the summons via Amycus Carrow instead of with his _Patronus_?

Aurora had her suspicions on this last point.

"Yes, of course," she told Carrow. "I'll be up to his office immediately."

"Er, the Headmaster is still in his rooms. He asked me to send you there."

Had the cretin winked at her? Aurora fought down a moue of disgust.

"Certainly," she responded regally, as if this development had not confused her further. Aurora nodded her head at Amycus in farewell and went to shut the door.

"Lucky bastard," she thought she heard Carrow say as the door clicked shut.

****

By the time she reached Snape's apartments, a feeling of panic had risen in her throat. What had happened? Merlin's ghost, was everything they had worked for going to fall apart in the light of a beautiful, sunny morning? She rapped on the door.

His features were inscrutable as always when he admitted her.

"Severus, what's happened?" Her eyes were wide with concern and roamed around the room for a clue. She did not know what she expected to see (_blood stains? disembodied limbs?_), but Snape's sitting room looked as it always did. As it had for nigh on fifteen years, in fact, since Snape never moved his rooms to the headmaster's apartments that Dumbledore had occupied. Now a fire crackled in the hearth, and the place looked...cozy.

Snape handed her a cup of tea and replaced the wards on his door.

"What is it? Is it Harry?"

"Harry's fine, Aurora, as far as I know. Everyone's fine. I haven't had any news." He paced up and down the room.

She settled on the divan, still nervous, and sipped at the tea. Black, no sugar, no lemon; just as she had always liked it. "You scared me half to death, Severus, sending Carrow like that." She strove for a joking tone. His mouth quirked as she imbued the Death Eater's name with all the distaste she felt for him. "Why didn't you just send your _Patronus_?"

He stopped pacing and stared out the window, clearly avoiding her gaze.

Aurora's mouth dropped open. "Still?" she groaned. "Don't tell me it's still that fucking deer!"

"It is still that fucking deer," he confirmed in his most precise tones.

"Oh, honestly, Severus."

_So this was how it was_, she thought, _how it would be:_ _Lily Evans, always and forever._

He pressed his forehead to the glass of the windowpane.

Aurora stared. "Sev, are you...are you _angry_ with me?" she asked incredulously. Although Snape walked around in a near-constant state of annoyance, Aurora prided herself on being one of the few people who could gauge the fluctuations in his mood. And now he was reading as 'angry'. Furious, actually. She could practically hear his jaw grinding.

"I don't appreciate being told lies," he told the window.

She set her tea down on the coffee table. "Beg pardon?"

He whirled and came to stand over her. "I don't appreciate your sneaking out to see Lupin and then returning to tell me lies!" He clutched convulsively at the arm of the sofa.

Aurora's mouth dropped open in complete shock. "'Sneaking out to see Lupin'?" she repeated, thunderstruck. "And what lies? When have I lied to you? When have I _ever_ lied to you?"

"You think you can use pretty words to keep me from knowing the truth about you and him. But it won't work. I won't swallow your nonsense!"

Aurora rose, the outrage flowing through her like electricity. "Of all the...you think this is about _Remus_?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "It's _always_ been about Lupin, hasn't it? Bloody Lupin. Why do you bother pretending anymore?

"You are unbelievable! How is it that you are always so totally _wrong_?"

"Wrong, am I?" he stepped toward her menacingly.

She held out her hand. "Vial."

Snape froze in confusion.

"Come on, Potions master," she said impatiently, snapping her fingers under his beaky nose. "I want a vial."

Snape opened a drawer in his desk and produced an empty test tube. Aurora raised her wand to her temple and drew away a silvery strand, then deposited the memory in the test tube and stoppered it. His long fingers clutched the vial distractedly as a range of emotions played over his face.

"Talk to me when you've got your facts straight," she spat, turning on her heel and marching out the door.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 12 rated M for language, sexual situations, and BDSM. Spoilers for HBP and DH.

*****

His eyes darted around the street. She must have been watching the house for days. She clearly knew to be cautious. Did she know about Wormtail?

Snape sat on his stoop and bent over as if tying a shoelace. He examined the signal more closely. It was his sun-sign, Capricorn, chalked on the concrete in front of his house. A leafy twig lay across the symbol, pointing toward the woods.

He could count on one finger the number of people who knew not only the location of his house in Spinner's End, but also his birthday, and who would, furthermore, use the zodiac to communicate with him. Severus tried to still his breathing. Something inside him hissed that he would give anything to see Aurora now. He wanted to go now, to sprint into the woods and throw himself at her feet.

But something else inside him whispered that she was not here to do good. What could she want with him?

_I killed Dumbledore_, he reminded himself. As if he had forgotten. _I killed Albus_.

So the dark-haired man rose and entered the house his parents had left him. He sneered at the warped man who lived behind the bookshelves and poured himself an enormous glass of firewhisky.

*****

Hours later, Snape awoke on the sofa, completely disoriented. He had dreamed of Aurora. She had left him a message and...

Was that a dream? Or was it real? He lay still, listening to Pettigrew's snores.

_I just need some air_. This is what he told himself as he slipped out the front door into the furry darkness of the June night. _I'm just clearing my head_.

He was still clearing his head when he crossed from the pavement of Spinner's End into the soft dirt of the woods. He was still clearing his head when he located the symbol for Capricorn carved into a birch tree and then sat on the ground where its roots spread into the earth. He was still clearing his head when she grabbed his hand and pulled him silently into the tent she had concealed from Muggle eyes.

Aurora embraced him fiercely. At first he resisted, but soon he relaxed into her familiar scent. She murmured his name softly and stroked his hair. "You're safe," she whispered into his ear.

Snape pulled away, fighting the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. She led him to the small kitchen and sat him down at the table. In the dim light he could see the tracks tears had left on her face. Aurora saw him looking and wiped her cheeks. Her gaze roamed over him as if to ensure that he was entirely in one piece. "Cup of tea?" she asked, then smiled wryly.

The words poured out of him like vomit: "I did it, Rora. I killed him."

The look of pain on her face made him want to cut off his tongue. He slammed his fist on the table, but she nodded gamely.

"I know," she managed. "It had to be done."

"Rora," he gasped. Something was choking him. He slid to the floor and knelt beside her. "Rora."

"Ssh," the woman soothed him, running her fingers through his hair. "It had to be done. And you protected Draco. You kept your vow."

Snape buried his face in her leg, shaking his head miserably.

Aurora stared down at him. "Sev, look at me. Look at me." She tilted his chin up toward her. "Do you trust me?"

A hint of panic flashed across his normally inscrutable eyes. "I want to," he croaked.

She put her forehead against his and let him pass through her Occlumency tattoo, showing him what she intended. After a moment Severus pulled away, nodding, and began to unbutton his coat.

Aurora swallowed nervously. "Do you consent to this?"

He glared at her insolently as he slipped out of his coat and attacked the buttons on his shirt.

"I need to hear you respond when I ask you a question," she warned, quietly and deliberately.

Severus met her gaze without blinking and pulled his shirt off.

Aurora licked her lips at the sight of his pale, lean torso. She rose, standing over him. "Yes, I know: I sassed you for years, but I will not tolerate any similar insolence from you. Do you comprehend?"

He took a deep breath, then looked down. "Yes."

"'Yes', what?"

The man appeared uncertain. "Yes, ma'am?" he tried.

Aurora laughed. "If you were an American boy with a sexy southern twang, I might entertain 'mayum'. But I believe that over here it's the Queen who is 'ma'am'." She saw his lip twitch in amusement. "Is something funny, little one?" She grabbed a handful of his hair and tugged his head back, staring down into his eyes. His pupils were pleasantly dilated. _So quickly_, she marveled.

"No, _Domina_," he whispered.

She grinned wolfishly. "My Latin's a little rusty. '_Domina'..._I like it. Say it again."

"Tell me what would please you, _Domina_." His expression was completely open and guileless.

Aurora reluctantly released her grip on his hair. "Over there," she said, indicating with her head an open space in front of the sofa.

Severus made as if to stand.

"No," she corrected. "Crawl."

He did. Aurora had not been entirely sure that he would comply with this demand. She watched in amazement as he crawled across the room, the long muscles in his back rippling.

"I'm enjoying this view, little one," Aurora commented, walking slowly after him. He crooked his head around, and she flicked her eyes toward his backside. "Yes, I want you to stay on all fours. Just like that."

He froze obediently and awaited her next order. Aurora took a seat on the sofa and watched him silently. His breathing was even. His heart rate appeared nice and slow. She detected, however, flickering movements of impatience and anticipation when no command came.

"Am I boring you?" she drawled.

"No, _Domina_." He licked his lips nervously.

She leaned forward to touch him on the shoulder. He startled. She smoothed her hand gently over his back, caressing him. Slowly, he relaxed into her palm. His eyes fell shut under the curtain of his hair as he abandoned himself to her touch. Aurora's hand explored him, her fingertips running over his neck, his shoulders, his arms, his back. Snape began to arch against her like a pet cat. She laughed indulgently.

"So beautiful," Aurora murmured.

His head twitched slightly.

"Oh, yes, it's true," she assured him, smiling. "And that's one reason why I'm going to hurt you now."

Snape's breath hitched at her words.

"I want to see that beautiful flesh of yours in pain. Not because I am angry, or because you have been bad. I will never punish you with pain. But I will hurt you, because it pleases me to do so. Will you take it for me?"

"Yes, _Domina_," Severus whispered.

She pushed his hair back so she could see his face. "Don't be strong, little one. Don't fight it. You are mine, and you are here to please me. All you have to do is let go." He met her gaze for the briefest of moments. His eyes were still, as they often were, but not with that hollow deadness. Severus looked totally calm.

"Oh, my beautiful boy," Aurora murmured lovingly, cupping his jaw. Then she reached into her robe and withdrew her wand. Severus turned his face back to the floor and let his head flop forward.

Aurora bit her lip, gathering all her strength.

_I can do this_. _He needs me to do this_.

She pointed her wand.

"_Crucio_."

He collapsed into a twisting, writhing ball of arms and legs and hair. She could see him gritting his teeth against the pain, his face contorted in a rictus of agony.

_Give in_, Aurora willed him silently. _Just take it. Take it for me. Please_. Her hand was shaking as tears streamed down her face. It seemed to take hours, but she held the curse until she was afraid she would give in first.

And then he screamed. The noise was horrifying; it wrenched a gasp from her lips. The floodgates had opened, however, and the shrieks tumbled from his mouth like river rocks. Tears stained his face. He curled on the floor, keening.

_Enough_.

Aurora released him from the curse. She knelt beside him and stroked his hair. He clutched at her, cramming himself tight against her hip.

"Oh, my darling," she whispered. "Oh, my beautiful boy."

He mumbled something into her thigh. She leaned over to hear him.

"Again," he said, more clearly this time.

Aurora's heart stopped. "No," she responded sharply.

"Again," he repeated.

She lifted his head so she could meet his gaze with her own. "Absolutely not. That was enough."

Severus rubbed his face with his hands. His eyes were wild. "It was not enough."

Aurora's jaw clenched. "You do _not_ dictate these proceedings. Crawl into the kitchen and put your nose in the corner."

He looked for a minute as if he might laugh.

"I do not take insolence lightly, _slave_," she hissed. "Nose in the corner."

With an expression approaching incredulity still pasted on his face, Snape crawled across the front room into the corner of the kitchen.

Aurora waited.

"May I earn time off for good behavior?" he called. His voice was somewhat muffled by the cupboard.

She did not respond, but instead walked toward the door. Severus turned his head to investigate.

"Did I say you could move?"

He snapped his nose back into the corner.

Aurora walked out the door.

****

She returned about twenty minutes later. Snape was still in position, but his back was shaking.

Aurora crossed the kitchen and knelt to embrace him from behind. He gave a huge, shuddering sigh and leaned his forehead against the cabinet.

"I thought you'd left me," he sniffled. "I thought...I didn't think you were coming back." His breath hitched, and Aurora hugged him tighter. She found his ear with her mouth.

"I will always come back for you," she whispered.

Severus grasped her arms and clutched them closer to him. She kissed his shoulders and nuzzled his neck as he began to settle. He relaxed into her embrace. She moved her hands to stroke his chest, feeling his breathing slow. He hummed with pleasure, so she ran her nails lightly over his skin.

"Severus Snape, the last sin-eater," she sighed.

He lifted one of her hands to kiss it. Then he moved her hand down to his lap.

Aurora almost moaned when she felt the hard bulge in his pants. She was suddenly and unmistakably aware of her clothed breasts crushed against his bare back. She inhaled his scent and felt a corresponding rush of warmth between her thighs.

"Tell me how I can please you, _Domina_," he murmured huskily. Aurora's eyes went wide with shock and desire. Severus turned halfway around and drew her face toward his.

"No, Sev," she gasped.

"What's wrong?" he whispered against her lips. She could feel the heat of his mouth. She could almost taste his tongue against hers.

Aurora reached down inside for the last scrap of her strength. "This isn't the time or the place. I can't...not when you're..."

"When I'm what?" His hand clamped down on her arm. A stranger seeing his eyes now would think he was drunk.

"When you're so far down," she explained. "I'd be taking advantage. This is not what you consented to."

Stormclouds gathered on his brow. "I consent now."

"You're in no state to consent now." Sighing, Aurora stood and offered him her hand. "You can stay here, or you can go, as you wish. But sexual play was not part of the deal."

"Fuck 'playing'," he spat ominously.

She stroked his head. "You're right: this is much more than a game, Sev. But I'm making this decision for you, for your own good." Aurora paused, thinking. "This isn't...this isn't the way I want it to be."

Severus looked up at her, mystified.

She tugged gently on his hair as on a horse's bit. "Now: will you stay or go?"

He stared down at the floor for a minute, then rose without her assistance. "I'd like to stay, please," he replied quietly.

Aurora nodded and led him into the bedroom. She pulled him down onto the bed with her and cradled him. He laid his head on her shoulder. Aurora began to hum, the tuneless humming one uses to soothe a child, the humming that says, "I am here now, and you are safe."

Like a baby, he placed his hand on her chest. "I can feel your heart beat," he whispered.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 13 rated M for language and sexuality (femmeslash).

*****

The current headmaster of Hogwarts had fled to his house at Spinner's End when the combined heads of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw ejected him from the school. He spent little time at the house; the Death Eaters were a busy lot now. But he would return there of an evening when he could.

It was the only place he felt safe tuning in to Potterwatch.

The broadcasts were more scattered now. The members of the Order were just as busy as the Dark Lord's minions. He listened for news of Potter, naturally, but each episode that ended without a song from 'Eos' left him feeling empty. Emptier than usual, that is.

Snape had prepared himself for death long ago, but the realization had dawned that he did not want to die without seeing Aurora again. Each night as he tuned in, he almost hoped that she would not sing. She exposed herself to sure identification whenever she did. Despite everything he had done for her, he could not save her from the Death Eaters if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named discovered that Professor Sinistra truly was an active member of the Order.

But one night he nearly sloshed firewhisky all over himself when he heard 'Eos' introduced. She sounded exhausted. 'River' and 'Romulus' spoke guardedly with her about the students at Hogwarts. Listeners would be reassured about the children's safety, but would not know that the female voice belonged to a professor at the school. At least, he hoped not.

Still and all, his heart leapt in his chest when he heard her guitar framing a soft melody. Then her gentle but robust voice:

_So.  
So you think you can tell  
Heaven from Hell,  
blue skies from pain.  
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?  
A smile from a veil?  
So you think you can tell.  
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?  
Hot ashes for trees?  
Hot air for a cool breeze?  
Cold comfort for change?  
Did you exchange  
a walk-on part in the war  
for a lead role in a cage?_

Was it over? He listened to the guitar bridge expectantly. _Such a calm song to express so much pain. _Then she was singing with more intensity:

_How I wish,  
how I wish you were here.  
We're just two lost souls  
swimming in a fish bowl,  
year after year.  
Running over the same old ground,  
what have we found?  
The same old fears.  
Wish you were here._

"Cheers, Eos, that was...."

Severus switched off the radio with his wand. There was no point fooling himself: he knew she had been thinking of him when she picked that song. The notion was equally pleasant and painful.

He took a sip of his firewhisky. As the liquor burned its way down his throat, Snape's eyes went to the false book on his shelf. "_Accio_," he muttered, and the box flew into his hand. The contraption was a stupid Muggle trick, just a book cover that opened to reveal a small hiding place, but no self-respecting wizard would use such a thing. Which is why it was an excellent spot to hide his most precious and secret possessions.

Severus flipped open the cover and stared down at the vial concealed inside. For the first time since Aurora had extracted the memory, he permitted himself to wonder what it was she wanted him to see.

****

Severus had tried to sleep. He honestly had. But it was as if that vial was burning a hole in the back of his mind. He did not want to look.

_Don't you?, _a voice inside him asked.

Finally he dragged himself out of bed and wrestled into a dressing gown. Retrieving the vial, he poured the fluid gas into the Pensieve on his desk. He took a deep breath, then threw himself headlong into the memory...

Tonks was sitting on the sofa of a small bedsit apartment, sipping a glass of wine. _Must be her own_, he decided, surveying the jumbled decor. The Auror's hair was wet, and she wore a bathrobe. Severus, however, could still hear the shower running. Who was in there? And where was Aurora? This was meant to be _her _memory.

"_And she said, 'Losing love is like a window in your heart:  
Everybody sees you're blown apart.  
Everybody feels the wind blow.'"_

It was Aurora's voice, echoing in a tiled bathroom. Well, that was two questions answered.

"Would you stop with that shit, please?" Tonks called, tucking her legs under herself.

The sound of water ceased, and Aurora, toweling her hair, poked her head out into the main room. "_And I've reason to believe we all will be received in Graceland_," she sang, with what Snape would have described as a shit-eating grin on her face. The younger woman rolled her eyes.

Snape stepped to the side for a better view of Aurora's damp nudity. Unfortunately, she wrapped the towel modestly around herself before joining Tonks on the sofa.

"Butterbeer," the Auror muttered, indicating with her head the bottle sitting on the coffee table.

"Ta." Snape stepped further to the side so he could see every inch of Aurora's long legs as she stretched to retrieve the beverage. He recognized the birthmark on her inner thigh. _Ten years since I saw that_, he marveled.

"When did you first know?" Tonks said. She stared down into her glass, swirling its contents thoughtfully.

"When you sent me your _Patronus_, Dora."

"Oh, hell's bells," the other woman cursed, wincing. "I'm still not used to it."

Aurora took a swig of her butterbeer. "You should thank Remus. That wolf _Patronus_ is quite lovely. I might even say 'graceful'." Her lips twitched in a smile.

Tonks laughed, throwing her head back against the sofa cushion. "More graceful than me, I suppose you mean."

Aurora grinned and tucked a lock of purplish hair behind the other woman's ear. "You said it, Dora, not me." She shook her head, clucking her tongue. "That man's an idjit.

Tonks sipped her wine and said nothing.

The older woman studied her. "You know I'm just teasing you about Remus."

The Auror flicked a dismissive hand. "No, I'm not angry, love."

Aurora cupped the other woman's jaw in her palm. "Still shaken up after that little fracas tonight, then?"

Tonks sighed and picked at invisible lint on her bathrobe. "It's just...Remus saved you tonight. And then...the way he looked at you afterward..."

"Oh," the blonde responded slowly. She turned the other woman's chin toward her and kissed her lightly. Snape started, blinking. "There's no need to be jealous, Dora. Remus and I have known each other a long time."

"Hmph. So have we." Pointedly, Tonks seized Aurora's mouth with her own. Snape's jaw dropped open in surprise as Aurora returned the kiss eagerly. He watched the women's lips and tongues teasing each other, and he was immediately aroused. And there was another emotion.

Tonks pulled away and stared into her friend's eyes. "So what was that look between you two?"

"Dora, I have _never_ been intimate with Remus. I swear to you."

"But you've wanted to be."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "Sure, when I was, like, prepubescent!" she laughed. Her voice turned serious. "Do I find him attractive? Hells yes. But I couldn't ever. Really."

"Because of 'him'?" Tonks cocked an eyebrow. Snape's ears pricked up. '_Him?'_

"Because of him _and_ because of you. I'm trying this new thing called 'respect for loved ones'."

The Auror smiled. "Oh, ok. So there's no problem with you explaining that look."

"And that right there is why you are good at your job, baby girl."

Tonks grinned, then leaned in toward Aurora again. She placed her hand on the blonde's thigh and stroked it softly. "Tell me," she whispered, eyes flashing.

Aurora slid her fingers into thick locks of purple-pink hair, relaxing into Tonks' touch. "Remus didn't save me tonight, Dora. It looked like he did, but...that Death Eater: he wasn't actually trying to kill me."

Tonks blinked, confused. "Beg pardon?"

The older woman ducked her head to kiss Tonks' neck. Snape felt himself grow hard at this gentle intimacy. The Auror sighed and permitted her robe to fall open. Her full bosom appeared between the folds of terrycloth. Aurora hummed softly, testing the heft of the olive-skinned tits with her hands.

"The Death Eater?" Tonks reminded her.

Aurora leaned forward and took one plump, brown nipple into her mouth. Snape's erection swelled perceptibly, straining against the confines of his trousers. Tonks lay back on the sofa, bringing Aurora with her. The blonde's towel slipped off, revealing her long, fair body with its ring of tattooed runes. Severus groaned and licked his lips, confident that the women could neither hear nor see him. His gaze played over Aurora's curvy ass as she opened Tonks' robe completely.

"Good deflection," Tonks sighed. The blonde transferred her attentions to the other nipple. The Auror gasped with pleasure. "Fucking cow," she insisted. "What about the Death Eater?"

"He wasn't trying to kill me," Aurora repeated, disengaging reluctantly from her delectable task to speak, then busying herself once again.

"Yeah, yeah, got that." Tonks arched her back, burying her fingers in her friend's strawberry-blonde locks. "But how do you know that?"

Aurora readjusted her position; this involved lifting her hips. Snape's fingers clenched when he saw Aurora's pink folds peek out under her buttocks. But there was also a memory tickling the back of his mind...

"It was Severus," Aurora explained simply.

Tonks sat up and grabbed the other woman's shoulders. "What? Snape? How do you know?"

"Because I know Severus. That was him."

Snape experienced a sinking feeling as his mind went back to the struggle in question. He remembered that night, how he had needed to trust Lupin to protect Aurora. Protect her from a curse which Severus had to make look believable. _She knew it was me_. _She's known this whole time. _ His face twisted with displeasure.

"And Remus knew, too?"

"Yeah. He's known Severus as long as I have. And that's what 'the look' was about, Dora. Nothing else."

Tonks stroked the other woman's hair, her face serious. "Aurora, I don't like this. You do _not_ think clearly where Snape is concerned."

"Lay back," Aurora said softly.

The younger woman gave her a warning look. Aurora smiled, a little sadly. Then she pushed Tonks back and parted her legs gently, pressing a kiss on one tender thigh.

Snape's mind was awhirl, but his interest was also definitely piqued. He reached down to shift his erection into a more comfortable position.

"Love, if you suck cock half as well as you eat pussy," Tonks commented as Aurora's mouth trailed up her thigh, "then old Snape is missing a hell of a time."

Aurora's laugh was slightly muffled. "Shit, I'm much better with cock." She buried herself between Tonks' legs and went to work. Severus' groan of arousal was matched by the Auror's shriek of pleasure. She tilted her purple-haired head back and abandoned herself to Aurora's ministrations. Snape clenched his hands, pulse racing with arousal. It was not long before Tonks climaxed, tossing on the sofa like a wild creature.

"There: that's the first one out of the way," Aurora said, grinning, and planted a kiss on Tonks' belly.

The younger woman stretched and settled back onto the sofa in a particularly feline manner. "Do you fancy him forcing you to suck his cock? I bet that's what he'd like."

Aurora tilted her head in surprise. "Who? Remus?"

"No!" Tonks laughed. Her eyebrow flipped up and down mischievously. "Snape. I reckon he'd tie you down and stick it down your throat."

Severus snorted.

Aurora's eyes were slightly hooded. "He can do whatever he wants," she said quietly.

"Bed." Tonks' voice was unusually low and harsh.

"What?"

"Get on that bed, you filthy slag," the younger woman ordered severely, but she could not keep a straight face.

Aurora obeyed with a bemused expression. Snape followed the women to the sleeping area of the tiny flat and leaned against a wall from which he would have a good view. The sight of Aurora's wiggling ass as she crawled onto the bed made him purse his lips and exhale in appreciation.

Tonks stood at the foot of the bed. "Miss Sinistra, your mixture is absolutely not acceptable. Did you intend this to be Veritaserum or fizzy grape soda?" Her drawl was not a poor approximation of Snape's own.

The blonde giggled. "He was never actually my professor," she reminded the other woman.

"Detention, Miss Sinistra!" Tonks climbed up and knelt on the bed.

"Shall I clean cauldrons, Professor?" Aurora jibed, rolling her eyes.

Snape harrumphed at the ridiculous playacting, but his focus remained on Aurora's breasts perking out as she leaned back on her elbows.

"Indeed no. I have another service in mind for you." Tonks' voice hissed menacingly. "Spread your legs. I want to see how far I can shove my great, beaky nose up that pretty cunt of yours."

Aurora's eyes opened wide with shock, and she howled with laughter.

Snape chewed the inside of his cheek, glowering. _So you wanted me to see you mocking me, in the arms of a lover? Is that why you gave me this memory?_

"Tell me how much you want me, you little tart," Tonks demanded.

Aurora recovered her composure and eyed the younger woman contemplatively. "I want your hands on me, Severus," she told Tonks.

Snape could not deny the rush of desire this sent through his body. He squinted at Aurora, trying to discern if this was simply another form of derision.

"I love feeling your eyes on me."

The Potions master startled. _Can she see me? _

_No_, he quickly realized. She was looking at Tonks.

"I want your hands on me," Aurora purred. "I want to feel those long fingers exploring my body. And, Severus: I crave your kiss. I want to taste your tongue and breathe your breath. I want to smell your scent and feel your naked flesh against mine. I want to take your cock inside me and hear you moan with pleasure. I want to drive you out of your head and make you forget every other woman you've ever desired."

Snape's knees felt like jelly. The lust was so strong in him that he could barely breathe. This was not the sexuality she had mocked him with when she was in school. This was her pure and naked desire, and she wanted _him._ He slammed his open palm into the wall, savoring the rippling pain that spread through his arm.

"Fuck, 'rora," Tonks breathed. "Remind me why I'm here and he's not."

Aurora shrugged, smiling. "Remind me why I'm doing Lupin's job for him." She indicated the other woman's sex with her eyes.

Tonks' mouth twitched; whether in sadness or amusement, Snape could not be sure. "I guess sisters are doin' it for themselves tonight." She leaned forward. "Assume the position, you sexy bitch."

The blonde laughed and spread her legs obediently. Severus sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her slick pink folds with interest. It seemed Aurora's body had changed in one more way since he had last seen her: nestled between her nether lips glinted a metal ring that transfixed her clitoral hood vertically. He leaned forward to study the curiosity, longing to explore it with his fingers and, yes, his tongue.

At that moment Tonks covered Aurora's beautiful pussy with her mouth and set to work on it. The long legs tensed as Aurora arched her back, moaning softly. Her breasts thrust up toward the ceiling, and she bit down on her plump lower lip. As the other woman teased her sensitive flesh, the blonde gasped in pleasant surprise from time to time, her hands clenching in the bedclothes.

Severus' mouth went dry. He longed to smell her scent and taste her sex. He imagined his tongue on Aurora, fantasized that it was his skillful touch driving her toward ecstasy.

Tiny shrieks escaped Aurora's lips as her climax approached. She parted her long thighs as far as they would go and tilted her hips up to Tonks' mouth. Her head rolled on her shoulders. Suddenly her eyes popped open, and she was staring directly at Snape.

"Severus!" she gasped as the orgasm flooded her trembling muscles. He met her gaze in shock, his fingers twisted painfully into his robes. Then Aurora's eyes went to the ceiling, and her legs flopped in release back onto the bed.

Tonks sat up, nipping at Aurora's thigh a little spitefully. "You know, you're lucky that bastard didn't kill you tonight."

"It doesn't matter." She met the younger woman's eyes calmly.

"I beg your pardon? I happen to think it matters very much!"

Aurora eased herself gingerly into a sitting position. "Killing me would increase his credibility with the Dark Lord," she explained. "Credibility is what keeps him safe."

"His safety is more valuable than yours?" the Auror asked incredulously.

The blonde swung her legs over the side of the bed, just next to where Snape sat. "Don't kid yourself, Dora. If we lose Severus, none of us is safe."

Tonks shook her head. "We can proceed without him."

Aurora turned her head to look at her friend over her shoulder. Severus admired the elegant lines of her neck and the plumpness of her lips, only inches from his face. "Yes, you can. But I've never lived in a world without Severus-

"Aurora!" Tonks interrupted warningly, brows lowered.

"-and I don't want to."

Snape reached forward to grasp the strawberry-blonde head and bring it toward his own, to devour her lips with his kiss, but his hands moved through her like a rippling image on a pond's surface, and he was being pulled from the memory, tumbling through cold, grey darkness.

***

A/N: "Wish You Were Here" is by Pink Floyd. The song Aurora sings to Tonks is "Graceland" by Paul Simon.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 14 rated T. Spoilers for HBP and DH.

*****

"Join me, Severus." The voice emanating from the figure in the armchair was cordial, but its words had the force of a command.

Snape sat in the other chair facing the fire and inclined his head toward Lord Voldemort. He said nothing.

"Alecto Carrow reports that matters are well in hand at Hogwarts," commented the creature once known as Tom Riddle.

"Indeed." Snape crossed one leg over the other and smoothed his robes.

"No more trouble from McGonagall and the others?"

"Not recently," the Headmaster replied, something like a smile quirking his lips.

The Dark Lord's smile was much more obvious. "It occurs to me that there are some among the staff at the school who might be sympathetic to our cause, now that Dumbledore is dead." A contented hiss escaped Voldemort's mouth at these last words.

Snape gazed into the fire. He did not like where this conversation was heading.

"I know that I did not kill the elder Sinistras myself – I believe it was Avery. Do you recall, Severus?"

Snape cocked an eyebrow and remained silent.

"No matter. Amycus suggests that the daughter might be, let me see, 'brought into the fold' were his words, I believe." Nagini's scales slithered over one another as she rearranged her sleeping position at her master's feet. "I understand that you have some influence over her?"

"Yes, my lord," Severus replied dryly. "In the sense that she has never obeyed a single request I have made, to my knowledge. Professor Sinistra is insufferably pigheaded. She is a complete incorrigible."

"I see." Voldemort templed his fingers together. "Pity. If you cannot control her, Severus, I doubt that Amycus could."

"My lord?" Snape's voice was sharper than he intended.

Voldemort turned lazy eyes on his lieutenant. "Carrow wants her, you see. I'm inclined to let him have her." He studied Snape's pensive face. "Ravenclaw, wasn't she?""

Severus looked up at the _non sequitur._ "Yes," he answered distractedly.

"A very clever young woman, then. And a full-blooded witch. Exactly the sort of breeding stock we need."

Snape could not prevent his jaw from dropping.

Voldemort's chuckle was a bone-chilling, high-pitched wheeze. "We must think of the next generation, Severus. The Carrows could use a touch of new 'old blood', if you take my meaning. Mental acuity has never been a dominant trait in that family. But add a touch of Sinistra...It would reward Amycus and provide for the future of our race, in one fell swoop. Don't you agree?"

Severus uncrossed his legs and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the arms of the chair. He stared at the floor as he picked his words. "Do you truly think Carrow is the right choice, my lord? Headstrong she may be, but also wickedly intelligent."

"'Headstrong', Severus?" Voldemort repeated derisively. "Is that so? I thought you believed her to be totally 'incorrigible'." The smirk on his inhuman face was pure evil.

Snape hesitated, watching the Dark Lord's slit-like eyes for a cue.

The smirk widened to a grin. "You must learn to keep her in check, if you are going to have her." Voldemort raised a long-nailed finger to prevent Snape's interruption. "You want her, do you not?"

Severus nodded quickly. He must take this chance now; it would not be offered again.

"Then she is yours, my loyal servant," Voldemort announced graciously. "When our power is consolidated, you will take her to wife and dilute that Muggle blood which runs through your veins. The child of Slytherin and Ravenclaw will be a chosen one amongst my followers."

Snape knelt at Voldemort's knee and inclined his head in thanks. He restrained a shiver as the Dark Lord placed a hand on his shoulder.

"And, Severus? Amycus would not spare the rod. You must not either." That same bone-chilling laugh.

As Snape strode out of Malfoy Manor, he found himself picturing Aurora, her belly full with child, smiling lovingly at him. The Dark Mark was emblazoned on her forearm next to that ridiculous tattoo. Snape was Voldemort's trusted second and held more power than anyone but the Dark Lord himself. They lived in a mansion like this one, and every day Death Eater dominion over the Muggle world spread.

He imagined the child: it had his own dark hair and Aurora's blue-green eyes. It embraced his neck and called him 'Papa'. It disdained its Muggle grandfather and took to the Dark Arts like a fish to water. He and Aurora would read to the child and tuck it into bed, then make love until dawn.

"What did He say?" Amycus Carrow wheezed, running to catch up with Snape.

Severus stopped the Death Eater in his tracks with a glare that could stun a basilisk, then Apparated back to Hogsmeade.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 15 rated T for language, violence, and character death. Spoilers for DH. Let the AR commence!

*****

Aurora's legs collapsed under her, and she fell to the ground. No one took any notice. Similar things were happening all over the Great Hall of Hogwarts. She was dimly aware of people sobbing all around her. One woman was wailing.

Aurora would have wailed if she could. In fact, she would have screamed and scratched her flesh and tore her hair. But no sound would pass her lips, and her limbs would not obey her. The only visible sign of her grief was the silent tears that streamed down her face as she gazed at the bodies of Remus and Nymphadora Tonks Lupin.

Her friends were only two among a line of corpses stretching along the floor of the Great Hall. The Weasleys clustered not far away around the body of young Fred. There were other students that Aurora had taught lying on the floor, their flesh cooling to the chill of the stones.

The Dark Lord had taken everything she ever loved from her, and now there was nowhere else to run. It was over. It was all over.

She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and stumbled to the door. Voldemort had given them a reprieve of one hour in which to hand over Potter. What would happen then? How many more would die? She clung to the doorjamb miserably.

"Professor Sinistra," someone whispered.

Aurora turned back into the Great Hall, straightening her shoulders. She would do what she must. She would be strong for the ones who remained.

There was no one standing behind her.

"Professor," the voice came again. "Pretend you can't hear me. It's Harry."

Aurora whirled around but could see no sign of the young man.

"There's no time for me to explain, Professor. It's Snape: he's in the Shrieking Shack. He's been hurt. You've got to hurry."

Her heart plummeted into her stomach. "How do I know it's really you, Harry? How do I know you're telling the truth?" she hissed.

"His _Patronus: _ I've seen it. It's my mother's."

_That fucking deer_.

Aurora took off at a run, fumbling in her pocket to confirm that she had her wand. She barreled past the guards stationed at the front gate of the castle and headed for the Whomping Willow. The dark night and a quick Disillusionment charm would keep the Death Eaters from seeing her. She hoped.

There were no dead branches by the Whomping Willow. Not that she could see clearly. "Fuckfuckfuck," she muttered as she searched the ground, unwilling to risk a _Lumos_ spell.

There.

Aurora snatched at the bough and stabbed the bole which stopped the willow from whomping. She dove into the tunnel, thrusting aside roots and twigs that tugged at her. As she entered the Shack, she slowed, keeping a watch out for the enemy. Dust rose at each of her careful steps. Then she felt something slick under her foot.

"_Lumos_," she croaked.

It was blood under her feet. Thick droplets were splattering down from the floorboards overhead.

"Severus!" she screamed, although it might have only been in her head, as she raced up the stairs and down the hall to a room that contained more blood than she had ever seen in her life. Her foot skidded in the gore, and she collapsed next to him, searching desperately for the wound. His face was waxen, his lips blue. She found the holes torn into his neck; they were still trickling. With her right hand, she used her wand to seal the gashes. With her left, she felt for a pulse.

Nothing.

Casting about the room, Aurora saw a shattered mirror. She grabbed one of the glass slivers, slicing her palm, and held the object under Snape's nostrils. It fogged ever so slightly: he was breathing. She conjured a levitating stretcher and guided him onto it. Her _Patronus_, a bat, flapped off toward the castle to alert Madam Pomfrey.

_Who did this?_ she wondered, hurrying the laden stretcher back the way she had come. _Not Voldemort himself? One of the Death Eaters, then?_

A thought struck her. _Not Harry, surely?_

She was almost to the castle when she heard the Dark Lord's voice booming once more. Aurora turned her head to see Voldemort and his army approaching Hogwarts.

_Is that Hagrid with them? _The thought flitted through her mind like a frantic bat.

She raced ahead and met the combined forces of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army flooding out of the castle. Aurora did not stop. A few heads turned to observe her progress, but most of the combatants were focused on the battle line approaching the castle. She pressed on into the Great Hall.

"What's happening out there?" Poppy Pomfrey asked, straining on tiptoe to see out a window.

"Don't know," Aurora gasped, lowering Snape's stretcher to the floor. _Don't care_, she added silently.

Noises from outside filtered in to them as Poppy worked feverishly on the erstwhile Potions master. Shouts and jeers. Wails. The clank of metal on stone. Aurora did not look up. She assisted the mediwitch in any way she could. In the end, she even ignored the cheers which signaled one side victorious over the other.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 16 rated M for language, sexuality and BDSM.

*****

Snape had summoned an owl as soon as he tumbled out of the Pensieve into his sitting room at Spinner's End. He scrawled two words on a parchment and folded the empty vial into it, then sent the bird speeding off with its message toward Hogwarts.

He collapsed into a chair, his fingernails rapping out a nervous cadence on the wooden arm. His eyes kept flicking toward the memory that still swirled in the Pensieve on his desk. He noted the time according to the battered mantel clock.

_One hour_, he promised himself. _After one hour I can watch it again._

Severus tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. He counted the stains in the plaster. His right leg, cocked over his left, jiggled furiously. His palms were sweating. Twin visions invaded his mind: teenaged Aurora, bringing herself to climax on his desk, and mature Aurora, accepting solace from another woman's mouth. Both Auroras were moaning his name.

He looked at the Pensieve. The clock. The Pensieve.

_I have always loved you, Severus._

Snape uncrossed and re-crossed his legs. The collar of his shirt itched terribly; he scratched until the spot was raw. He twisted around in the chair to crack his spine, his eyes barely brushing the Pensieve as he turned.

_Wish you were here..._

_Can you learn to read minds? In the case of mine, do you read in the dark?_

Pensieve. Clock. Pensieve.

Severus Snape lasted fifty-eight minutes and was proud to have made it that long.

****

He returned from the market with a full bag of groceries and so almost missed the signal chalked on the concrete.

Breathing deeply, he entered the house and put away his purchases. The afternoon light streamed through the kitchen windows onto the faded linoleum floor. Then he moved through the shadows of the hallway and into his bedroom. With great deliberation, Severus removed his clothes, hanging each item properly or placing it in the hamper, and showered. He cleansed his body thoroughly and shampooed his perpetually greasy hair. His pores opened by the hot steam, he shaved his face and splashed his cheeks with toner. He brushed his teeth. He dressed carefully in black trousers and a white dress shirt. Black socks and boots. Black coat, wand in inside breast pocket.

It was raining, of course, when Snape left the house. Just a drizzle, so he ignored it. The wet pavement stank of garbage and car fumes, but, when he crossed into the woods, the forest floor smelled rich and loamy. Raindrops pattered in the leaves above his head. The Capricorn symbol was right where he remembered it. Her tent was just past the marked tree. She had granted him entry once; he was now able to see it and enter it once again. He crouched down and crawled in.

The rain drummed distantly on the roof. Aurora sat in the kitchen, his message on the table in front of her. _Forgive me_, it said. When she saw him, her hand went to her mouth, and her eyes closed, briefly.

"I wasn't sure you would come."

Severus shook the water out of his hair, but did not speak.

"There's nothing to forgive," she whispered.

Snape removed his coat and folded it over the back of the sofa. He bent to untie his laces. Aurora's eyes roved over the hair falling into his face and over the white shirt, transparent with water, pasted against his flesh in places. With surprising grace, he slipped off his shoes and socks, then padded toward her on bare feet. He knelt on the ground a few feet away. His eyes locked with hers, Severus unbuttoned his shirt and stripped it off. It fell to the floor in a damp heap. His ordinarily slender frame was rail-thin.

Aurora rose and stepped toward him. Tilting his head back, she stroked the hair out of his face. "There's nothing to forgive," she repeated. Her fingers trailed over his gaunt shoulders.

Without a word, Severus stood and, turning his back on her, entered the bedroom. Aurora followed, only to find him removing his trousers at the foot of the bed. Her heart was racing. She admired his slim buttocks and strong legs as he disposed of the pants. When he faced her again and knelt, she was amazed to see his prick jutting out proudly from its nest of wiry, dark hair. Aurora could not help but lick her lips.

Snape lowered his head submissively, but she thought she detected a trace of a smile on his lips as he spoke for the first time. "I consent, _Domina_."

Aurora flexed her fingers, fighting back the urge to push him up onto the bed and ride his cock furiously. She took a deep breath and eyed him appraisingly. "To what do you consent?" she inquired.

Severus' large hands dangled at his sides. "To anything my lady wants."

Her secret flesh swelled and grew moist. Very moist. She leaned back against the wall, feeling as if she had been struck by a Jelly-Legs curse. "You should never consent to _anything,_ little one. Listen carefully: if you say 'yellow', I will move on to something else. If you say 'red', the scene is over. Do you understand?"

"No 'scene'," he responded huskily, then looked up to meet her eyes. "I trust you."

Aurora had to grip the doorframe to prevent herself toppling over, the flood of passion was so intense. She remained speechless as he lowered his head again. Caging her mouth with her fingers, she took a moment to think. Then she stepped forward and put her hand on the top of his head.

"Everything that happens here, happens because you are loved. Do you understand that?"

There was no response, and Aurora opened her mouth to reprimand him. But then he breathed, "Yes," ever so softly.

"Good," she said, relaxing. "Now stand up."

He obeyed.

"Eyes down, back straight," she reminded him. "I can see you've never been properly trained." She laid her palm on his chest. "I suppose I'll have to break you in," she whispered, her breath tickling the hair by his ear. She was gratified to see his cock twitch at her words. "Now, I'm going to examine you. You will stand straight like this while I do so."

Aurora began at his crown. She ran her hands through his still-damp hair, stroked his ears, studied his dark eyes and the lines of his face. He focused his gaze resolutely downward at the floor. Her fingers trailed down his throat, over his adam's apple, stopping briefly at his carotid artery to feel the pulse of blood there. Her touch was slow and gentle. She relished this opportunity to explore him without interruption. She moved down over his chest, noting the prominence of his ribs, and past his prick. His erection twitched again when she crouched and her breath brushed over his cock, but she moved onto his legs without giving the swollen organ any particular attention. Kneeling, she examined his feet thoroughly, memorizing each of his toes.

Then she scooted around behind him and moved back up his legs to his buttocks. She squeezed them appraisingly. To his horror, she parted his cheeks and rubbed a contemplative thumb over his arsehole. Severus flinched.

"Be still," Aurora snapped. "It is not your ass. It is mine, and this is not the last time you will feel me here. Although I shan't be so cursory in my next inspection." She smiled slightly, imagining the grimace which was surely pasted across his face. She rose, and her fingertips trailed up his back to his shoulders. Gooseflesh broke out as she raised his right hand to explore the soft skin under his arm. She perused his right arm carefully, thrilled by his strong forearm and hand. Then she passed across his trapezius muscles to his other arm.

Severus resisted slightly as she grasped his left wrist.

"Shall I put that elegant nose of yours in the corner again?"

With a visible effort, he relaxed his arm into her grip. Her fingers trailed over his palm and forearm and back up to his shoulder. She paid his Dark Mark no more attention than she would pay a mole.

"There now," she soothed him. "Well done. You'll make a beautiful slut." Watching over his shoulder, Aurora saw his eyes pop wide at her words. She chuckled. "Don't you want to be my slut?"

Severus' eyes returned to the floor. His flagging erection revived slightly. "Yes, _Domina."_

"Say it." Aurora moved around to face him so that he could see her grin.

"I want to be your slut, _Domina."_

She closed her eyes with pleasure. "Mm, that may be the single sexiest thing I've ever heard in my life," she admitted.

Snape's eyes flashed briefly with something like triumph.

"You've been good so far. I'm going to give you a reward." Aurora paused for a minute, allowing him to explore this idea in his mind. "Undress me," she prompted him.

"Yes, _Domina,"_ he acquiesced, his voice betraying perhaps more eagerness than it should have. He slid his hands under the band of her Ravenclaw sweatshirt and slipped the hoodie over her head; he was sure that his palms made as much contact with her body as possible during the process. Aurora simply laughed indulgently. _Bolder than he should be_. _But he's staying within bounds_... When he repeated his actions with her t-shirt, electricity rocketed through her body as his hands rubbed against her bare flesh. He knelt, leaning her hip against his shoulder, and removed her left shoe and sock. His lips brushed softly across her belly as he shifted her weight to his other shoulder and stripped her right foot. She hummed a warning at the kiss. His posture told her that he had understood. Severus unfastened her jeans and slid them over her hips. Once again his hands stroked her bare flesh as he pulled the pants down her legs. When the jeans were off, she stood before him in nothing but a bra and panties. Bright red lace. A tiny bow adorned the front of the underpants. Severus seemed torn for a moment, then he took the little bow in his mouth and tugged, effectively inserting his large nose into her panties. He inhaled her scent deeply.

"Enough," Aurora hissed. Snape froze at her tone. She could see his brain ticking through the odds of being sent to the corner.

"Lie down on the bed, face up. And keep your eyes on that ceiling. I _will_ blindfold you, if you can't control yourself." Severus obeyed quickly. Once he was on his back, Aurora could see that his cock flew at an uncertain half-mast. "Arms out to the sides."

Aurora moved around the room, clicking her nails against metal and china objects, dragging fabric over her skin; in short, using whatever was in her path to increase his anticipation. He stared resolutely at the ceiling, but his breathing had sped up. At last Aurora took up her wand and cast a spell at him. Iron manacles erupted from underneath the bed to encase his wrists and ankles. His arms were now stretched apart; the distance between his feet was mere inches. She sat on the bed next to his right hand and stroked the place where the metal met his forearm. The dark iron was a beautiful contrast to his pale skin.

"Why did I put you here, like this?" she asked conversationally.

"Because I disobeyed you, _Domina,"_ he told the ceiling.

Aurora leaned down and suckled his skin next to the manacle. She rolled the tender flesh between her tongue and lips until satisfied that she had raised a bruise. Severus made no indication that he felt anything.

"How did you disobey me?"

He swallowed. "I...I took advantage of the reward you offered me, _Domina."_

"You did indeed," Aurora agreed, rising to circle the bed. This time she took a seat by his left hand. "I had no idea you would be such an insolent slut. But you do look fucking sexy like this."

Snape's erection appeared to regain steam.

"Did you enjoy watching my memory in the Pensieve?"

"Yes, _Domina."_

"Filthy perv," she mused, studying the marks she could make in the skin of his belly with her fingernails. "What was your favorite part?"

He hesitated. "My...favorite part?"

Aurora cocked an eyebrow, then pointed her wand at the dresser. "_Accio_ clamps," she said clearly. Two small alligator clips connected by a chain flew toward her hand. Snape eyes flicked back to the ceiling as she turned around again. She smiled evilly. He inhaled deeply in a visible attempt to slow his racing pulse. "By 'favorite part', slut, I mean to indicate 'the event or image most favored'. Does that definition clarify matters?"

"Yes, _Domina_."

"So then, what portion of my memory is most vivid in _your_ memory?" Aurora was dragging the clips lightly over his chest.

"I...seeing you naked, _Domina_."

"I see," she commented, trailing the clamps over his prick and watching it rise at the stimulus. "It's too bad, really, that you lost your chance to see the same show live." She reached up and snapped her bra strap to emphasize the point. "What else did you enjoy?" Her tone suggested that he was sick and degenerate to enjoy any part of watching two young woman engage in sexual activity.

"Seeing you...pleasure...Tonks, _Domina_."

"'Pleasure'? I don't understand what you mean."

He struggled with the words. "Using your mouth to pleasure her, _Domina_."

"Oh, you mean when I licked her pussy." As she spoke, Aurora pinched his left nipple and enveloped it with the clamp. Severus stifled a groan. The pain fluttered anxiously at the boundaries of his conscious thought.

She leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Did it get you hard, slut? Seeing me eat her out?"

"Yes, _Domina."_

"Did anything else you saw turn you on?" She nibbled his earlobe, and his eyelids fluttered.

"Seeing you...climax, _Domina_," Severus gasped. "I wanted to be the one pleasing you."

"Isn't that sweet," Aurora purred. She looked down to see his erection hanging in there, so to speak, and clamped his other nipple. This time Severus twitched at the intense pain. His jaw clenched.

She had to hand it to him: he was tough. But tough was not what she wanted.

"Did you like it when I called your name?" She tugged lightly on the chain connecting the clamps.

"Oh, fuck, yes, _Domina_," he groaned.

"I don't recall permitting you to use such foul language."

Severus closed his eyes.

"Don't want to watch, slut? _Accio_, blindfold." A length of black cloth flew toward her, and she fastened it around Snape's eyes, careful not to catch his hair in the knot. His mouth twisted with displeasure.

"Some objection?" she asked, her voice dripping with menace.

"No, _Domina_," he responded miserably.

Aurora sighed. "Excellent. Now that you can't see anything, I can finally get comfortable." She stripped off her bra and panties, trailing each item over his body as she removed it so he knew exactly what she was doing. The crotch of her panties was soaked. She could not restrain herself much longer.

"Get that cock hard, slut. A limp dick is no use to me."

Almost immediately his prick sprang to life, perhaps encouraged by the possibility of her wanting to use it.

A smile played over her lips. "That was quite...prompt," she teased. "What did you think about?"

"Shoving my 'great, beaky nose up that pretty cunt of yours', _Domina_."

Aurora could not help but laugh. "Tonks does a good impersonation, hm? But what she doesn't have is one of these." She closed her fingers around his prick. Severus hissed, his hips thrusting slightly up to meet her hand.

"Oh, no, slut. This is for my pleasure, not yours. I'm going to sit on your cock-"

Snape's breath hitched.

"-and you are going to hold perfectly still. You will not so much as twitch. Do you understand me, slut?"

"Yes, _Domina_." He tilted his head back.

"And don't think you can sneak a peek under that blindfold, either."

"No, _Domina_," he replied, chastened, and lowered his chin.

Silently, Aurora stretched out her hand and summoned another item from the dresser. Then she straddled Snape's hips, parting her folds eagerly. She was dripping with desire for him. His cock slipped easily into her, sliding in all the way to the hilt as she settled herself down around him. Severus groaned with pleasure.

"Fuck, you feel good, slut." She clenched herself around him, adjusting to his size. The fullness was incredible. Her eyes felt like rolling back in her head. "Don't you dare move; I've got you right where I want you. And don't you dare fucking come, either."

"No, _Domina_," Snape breathed.

Aurora switched on the object in her hand.

His head twitched at the buzzing sound. She smiled and let him wonder for a long minute. Then she spread her thighs a little farther and tucked the tiny vibrator under her clitoral ring. The pleasure was intense and immediate. She rocked her hips against him, trying to draw his cock further into her. He made a small noise in his throat.

"You can feel the vibrations, can't you?"

"Yes, _Domina_."

"To be honest, slut, I'd prefer to have you licking my pussy, but I'll have to train you to do that right. And you'll have to be a very, very good slut to earn that. Now: don't come. I like having your big, thick cock inside me."

The manacles on Snape's wrists jangled against their chains as he clenched his fists.

Aurora arched backward, feeling her climax approach. She reached behind her and clutched his thigh. The crest rushed inexorably toward her, and she shrieked as the ecstasy shattered her. As the intense pleasure receded, Aurora switched off the vibrator and tossed it away. She stared down at her beloved stretched before her, offering himself up. She sat up a little on her knees and then plunged back down, enjoying the feel of his prick against her still-sensitive flesh. Severus' whole body clenched as he struggled against his own desire.

She reached out and tugged the chain on his nipple clamps lightly. "Do you want me to fuck you, slut? Do you want me to let you come?"

"Yes, _Domina_," Severus hissed desperately.

"Beg me."

"Please, _Domina_, I want to come inside you. You feel so fucking good. Please, I've waited so long, please."

Aurora began to ride him, and he groaned with pleasure as she slid along his length.

"Does that feel good, slut?"

"Oh, yessssss, thank you, _Domina_, yes, thank you."

She pulled on the chain stretching between his nipples, relishing his answering grunt. She knew his nerves were so confused now that every sensation, even pain, heightened his pleasure. "Even that feels good, doesn't it, slut?"

Snape cried out instead of answering, but she let the disobedience pass, his ecstasy was so pleasing to her_. This is Severus_, she kept telling herself. _It's really him_.

Suddenly his movements became more frantic, and he began to buck against her. Aurora almost wept with the beauty of him.

"You're mine," she growled.

"Yes!"

"You're mine!" she repeated, her voice almost a shout. "Say it."

"I'm yours...all yours...forever...please let me be yours..."

Aurora tore the clamps from his nipples with one tug on the chain. Severus screamed and then convulsed, wracked by his orgasm. "Aurora," he moaned, writhing against his bonds. "Aurora."

She leaned down and claimed his mouth. He arched against her, shoving his tongue between her lips. Breaking from the fierce kiss, she sat up, panting. She tore off the blindfold. Snape's eyes were dark pools she could not read. Aurora fumbled for her wand and released him from the manacles. He grabbed her immediately, curling her body down toward his, pressing her flesh against his. His hands grasped her buttocks to keep his softening member inside her. He guided her up until she was sitting in his lap, her arms thrown around his neck. He covered her face and neck with kisses. He caressed her breasts feverishly.

"Ssh," she soothed him, stroking his hair. "Ssh. It's enough."

In the curve of her neck, Severus shook his head miserably.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 17 rated K+.

*****

"How did you know where he was?" Arthur Weasley asked quietly, staring down at the ashen-faced Snape.

Aurora could not remember the last time she had slept. Since Voldemort had been defeated, she had worked alongside Madam Pomfrey to heal the victims of the battle, many of them her own students. Severus, for the time being, was stable. But he had lost a lot of blood, and Poppy acted extremely cagey whenever Aurora asked about his prognosis. He had not yet recovered consciousness.

"Harry told me," she explained to Arthur as he tore the rest of his sleeve away. "He'd snuck back into the castle, I think using that invisibility cloak his father had."

Arthur was silent for a moment. "I wonder how Harry knew. About..." he indicated Snape with his head, "I mean, that he was a spy all along."

Aurora shook her head wearily. "I don't know, Arthur. Maybe Albus told him," she suggested doubtfully. She mixed a healing potion for Arthur's injury. "In fact, Harry knew a few things he shouldn't have."

"Such as?" Arthur grimaced as she smeared the unguent on his arm.

"Well, he knew that Severus' _Patronus_ is a doe." She hesitated. "Like Lily's."

Arthur flexed his arm as the potion took effect. "A doe?" he repeated. "No, I don't think so."

"Arthur, it's been a doe since-"

He squinted at her. "Have you seen his _Patronus_?"

Aurora was taken aback. "Well, no," she admitted. "But he told me himself that it was still the doe, even after all these years."

Ginny Weasley approached with Harry in tow. "Dad! Did you hear about the envoys from the other schools?"

"I didn't know there were so many wizarding schools," Harry interjected. He seemed strangely wan for a young man who had both rid himself of a mortal enemy and won the heart of the girl he loved. The grief of that final battle had struck him too.

Arthur slipped into his coat. "What do you mean, love?"

"Percy told us! Beaxbatons and Durmstrang," Ginny enthused, counting the names off on her fingers, "and the Jeffersonian in America...Qi Lin...Academy of the Dreamtime...They're even coming from Uhura in South Africa!"

"But why are they coming, Ginny?"

The girl regarded Aurora with large green eyes. "To help us rebuild Hogwarts, Professor Sinistra."

Aurora and Arthur exchanged a glance.

"We know." Harry shrugged. "They could have put in an appearance _before_ the fighting, when we really needed them."

The adults' eyes met once again.

"No matter," Arthur replied brusquely. "It'll be good to see some friendly faces."

Ginny frowned and seemed about to speak. Harry took her by the arm. "Come on, Gin. Let's go tell Ron and Hermione." The girl allowed herself to be steered away.

Arthur Weasley stood to follow his daughter, but his gaze fell upon Snape's pale form, tucked into the camp bed next to Aurora. He pursed his lips in confusion. "I don't know why Snape told you his _Patronus_ was a doe, Aurora, although I suppose he had his reasons. He sent it to me once during a mission. Well, it was a bit of a tiff." Arthur thought for a moment. "I suppose you might call it a battle, really. And Snape was fighting on the other side, as I recall..." The red-headed man laid a finger to his lips pensively.

"And his _Patronus_? It wasn't a doe?"

"No, love." Arthur waved to his daughter, who had found Hermione further down the Great Hall. "Thanks for the potion, by the way." He kissed Aurora on the cheek and glanced down at the prone man. "No, his _Patronus_ was a bat."

Aurora's mouth fell open.

"Quite appropriate for him, if I do say so," Arthur admitted, chuckling, and started after Ginny.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: JK Rowling owns the HP world, not me. Chapter 18 rated T+ for language and House Elf self-abuse.

*****

Aurora leaned over the former headmaster of Hogwarts and unwrapped the bandage around his neck. Thanks to Poppy Pomfrey, the gashes had healed into thick scabs, under which new skin was already forming. Snape would never lose the scars, but he did have his life. Aurora stared down at the shadows under his great dark lashes and smoothed his forehead with her cool hand.

"Lily," he murmured.

Aurora recoiled. She briefly considered spitting on his sallow face.

Then Severus stirred and opened his eyes. "Rora?" he whispered, his gaze focusing in the darkened room. "Sing for me."

She hushed him and tucked the covers around him, humming. He settled and seemed to go back to sleep.

Aurora swallowed, feeling deflated. "_All the world just stopped now_," she sang.

Snape grunted encouragingly.

She continued:

_So you say you don't wanna stay together anymore._

_Let me take a deep breath, babe._

_If you need me, me and Neil'll be_

_Hanging out with the Dream King._

_Neil said 'hi' by the way._

_I don't believe you're leaving cause me and _

_Charles Manson like the same ice cream._

_Think it's that girl._

_And I think there're pieces of me you've never seen._

_Maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen._

Severus listened. In his mind's eye he saw a young child motoring toward him in a beeline, September sunlight dappling her blonde hair. She looked like one of Raphael's _putti_ in pink overalls.

"Hi," the girl said, standing by him at the foot of the tree.

Severus tried to ignore her and focused on his textbook.

"I'm Rora," she persevered. "I'm three. What's your name?"

The dark-haired boy glanced at her dismissively, but then found himself answering her for some unknown reason. "Severus."

It took her three tries to pronounce his name without lisping too badly.

"Why are you sitting by yourself?" she asked then.

"Reading." The boy glanced impatiently around for the Professors Sinistra, whose child he knew this was. Why were they letting her roam free like a wild animal? And why had the creature attached herself to him, of all the students out on this glorious September afternoon?

"I can't read yet," Rora confessed. To his horror, she prodded the page of his book with a filthy, pudgy finger. "What does this say?"

"It says, 'the siege of the Goblin City continued well into 1642'."

"What's a 'siege'?" The girl settled down under the tree next to Severus.

He sighed with all the ennui his eleven-year-old chest could muster.

"A 'siege' is when..."

_All the world is all I am:_

_The black of the blackest ocean_

_And that tear in your hand._

_All the world is _

_Dangling, _

_Dangling, _

_Dangling for me, darling._

_You don't know the power that you have _

_With that _

_Tear in your hand,_

_Tear in your hand._

_Maybe _

_I ain't used to _

_Maybes_

_Smashing in a cold room._

_I'm cutting my hands up _

_Every time I touch you._

_Maybe,_

_Maybe it's time _

_To wave goodbye now,_

Time

_To wave goodbye _

_Now. _

"I'm leaving for the States tomorrow," Aurora said. She smoothed her dress robes as if nonchalant, but Snape could tell she was nervous. She would not look at him; instead she eyed the crowd of recent Hogwarts graduates milling around the Great Hall with their families.

"Stop a few days," Snape urged. "Dumbledore would like it." _As would I_, he added mentally.

Aurora nodded absently, her gaze still not meeting his.

"At least take that ridiculous hunk of metal out of you nose. Elphias Doge thought someone had hit you with a hex."

Her fingers flew toward her nostril ring.

Snape sighed. "Next time I see you, you'll likely have a matching one on the other side."

Her arms were around his neck, her lithe body pressed against his, before he realized what was happening. He could feel her firm little breasts and smell the scent of her hair.

"Goodbye, Sev," she whispered, and, still without meeting his eyes, disappeared into the throng.

_Caught a ride with the moon._

_I know I know you well._

_Well, better than I used to._

_Haze all clouded up my mind_

_In the daze of why it could have never been._

_So you say. And I say,_

"_You know you're full of wish_

_And your 'baby, baby, baby, baby's'."_

_I tell you there're pieces of me you've never seen_

_Maybe she's just pieces of me you've never seen._

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Severus?"

Dumbledore's voice was encouraging, but also slightly saccharine, as he held out his hand toward Aurora. Her hair was chin-length, falling in golden-red waves about her cheeks. Her gangly form had filled out. She looked strong and healthy, if not happy. She was tall and proud as a queen. She eyed Snape warily, like one dog meeting another. He found her unspeakably lovely.

"I'm very excited to be teaching at Hogwarts this year," Aurora announced, in a 'my-mother-made-me-attend-this-tea-party' tone.

Snape held out his hand to shake hers collegially. "It's a pleasure to have you with us, Professor Sinistra."

_All the world is all I am:_

_The black of the blackest ocean_

_And that tear in your hand._

_All the world is _

_Dangling, _

_Dangling, _

_Dangling for me, darling._

_You don't know the power that you have _

_With that _

_Tear in your hand,_

_Tear in your hand._

Severus heard the door latch behind Aurora as she left.

He waited a moment, then climbed weakly out of bed, stumbled across the room, and collapsed onto his sofa. He arranged himself and his dressing gown on the divan in as dignified a manner as possible under the circumstances (the circumstances being that he had lost more than half his blood volume from a neck wound).

"Piggins," Snape called.

A female house-elf appeared in the room. She smoothed her rags nervously. "Yes, Headmaster," Piggins squeaked.

Snape winced. "Please note, Piggins, that I am no longer headmaster here. You will recall that Professor McGonagall has taken over that post," he explained as patiently as he could, which was short of flint scraping on steel, but only just.

Piggins lifted her right foot and, resignedly but with great force, stomped down on the toes of her left foot.

"Merlin's beard, there's no need for that, you ridiculous creature!"

"Yes, Professor. No, Professor," the elf responded, twisting her ear in dismay.

"Piggins, you will go into my storeroom in the dungeon and retrieve some items for me." He rattled off the desired ingredients. "Do you have that?"

"Yes, Head...Professor." The house-elf disappeared. Snape had not previously realized that it was possible to Disapparate in a subservient manner.

As he waited for his items, Severus reached up to investigate his wound. He probed gently with his fingertips at the still-tender flesh, grimacing slightly.

In truth, Snape had not anticipated this dilemma. He would live, it seemed, though the Dark Lord was dead. Perhaps he would get the Order of Merlin. First rank, naturally. He wondered if one could trade an authentic Order of Merlin medallion for enough Galleons to buy a small retirement home in Majorca. Or the north of France? No. The Isle of Wight? Wales? Perhaps New Zealand. He had heard there were more sheep than humans on the northern island. Of course he did not care much for sheep, but at least their endless bleating was somewhat calming, if a little pastoral for his taste. The same could not be said of human beings.

He tried to imagine himself living in a cottage miles from civilization. What would he do with himself? Raise kiwi birds?

Aurora's face rose unbidden to his mind. Aurora's face when he had confessed that he trusted her, as he knelt naked before her, offering himself up to her. She had appeared...awed. Gratified, but also slightly afraid, as if she were unprepared to accept his gift.

It's not still that fucking deer?

When Piggins returned with the correct ingredients, Snape was eminently thankful. His handwriting on the labels in the storeroom was cramped, but certainly legible; on the other hand, he had not been entirely sure that house-elves could even read. The creature bowed and then disappeared back to...the kitchen, presumably. Snape did not give much thought to the question of the house-elf's destination. He was already conjuring his _Patronus_ to send a message to Aurora.

***

A/N: "Tear in Your Hand" is by Tori Amos. Just one more chapter, loyal readers...


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